The Naming of the Nameless

One of the small but significant aspects of how Zlatý kůň is discussed in the scientific literature is the question of what to call her.

She is known as Zlatý kůň — Golden Horse — a name derived from the cave system where her remains were found.

This is not her name.

She had a name, presumably — some identifier by which the people in her community recognized and addressed her — but that name is as irrecoverable as her language.

The practice of naming ancient human specimens after the sites where they are found, or after other external features (the Iceman, the Red Lady of Paviland, Lucy), is universal in paleoanthropology.