One of the most important archaeological sites for our understanding of Neanderthals is still disgorging its secrets. A new skeleton has been found in Shanidar Cave in Iraqi Kurdistan, and it's helping reveal how the Neanderthals dealt with their dead.
Shanidar Cave is famous for what is known as the Flower Burial. Among 10 fragmentary Neanderthal skeletons unearthed there in the 1950s and 1960s, one was found with clumps of pollen mixed in with the surrounding dirt.
This was interpreted as evidence that the bones - belonging to a man aged between 30 and 45 years - had been buried with flowers; a funerary rite. It contradicted our previous understanding of Neanderthals as animalistic, uncultured and unsophisticated.
But this interpretation was a controversial one, and others put forward alternative explanations, such as the deposit of the pollen by an animal.
A Stunningly Well-Preserved Neanderthal Skeleton Was Just Unearthed at a Famous Burial Site
Shanidar Cave is famous for what is known as the Flower Burial. Among 10 fragmentary Neanderthal skeletons unearthed there in the 1950s and 1960s, one was found with clumps of pollen mixed in with the surrounding dirt.
This was interpreted as evidence that the bones - belonging to a man aged between 30 and 45 years - had been buried with flowers; a funerary rite. It contradicted our previous understanding of Neanderthals as animalistic, uncultured and unsophisticated.
But this interpretation was a controversial one, and others put forward alternative explanations, such as the deposit of the pollen by an animal.
A Stunningly Well-Preserved Neanderthal Skeleton Was Just Unearthed at a Famous Burial Site