The Krapina proto-human, scientifically known as Homo sapiens neanderthalensis was discovered in 1899, at the time of geological and panteological explorations at the Hušnjak hill in Krapina started.

The Hušnjakovo half-cave in Krapina, the location at which Dr. Dragutin Gorjanović Kramberger discovered the Krapina proto-human in 1899.

The excavations lasted for six years, supervised by Professor Dragutin Gorjanović-Kramberger, a famous Croatian geologyst, paleonthologyst and paleoanthropologyst. His works contributed significantly to the European and world science about the fossil man. The half-cave in Krapina was soon listed among the world's science localities as a rich fossil finding site, where the largest and richest collection of the Neanderthal man had ever bin found.