Part of a Neanderthal upper body skeleton was unearthed from the Shanidar cave in Iraqi Kurdistan, the first such discovery in more than 25 years, report the authors of a study published on February 18 in Antiquity. The authors conclude that Shanidar Z, as the individual is now known, was given an intentional burial, an idea that remains in dispute.
The skeleton was found in a depression that appears to have been dug intentionally, reports Science News. A sharpened stone and remnants of ancient plants and pollen were discovered in the sediment around the bones, and two stones near the head may have served as grave markers.
Testing of the soil underneath the remains revealed that Shanidar Z lived between 60,000 and 70,000 years ago.
Previous excavations at the Shanidar cave by archeologist Ralph Solecki of Columbia University during the 1950s yielded skeletal remains of 10 other Neanderthals, according to ...
