Shanidar

Shanidar is name of an attractive cave located in the Zagros Mountains of southern Kurdistan. What is interesting about Shanidar is being once home for Neanderthals which places Shanidar among the rare and unique caves in the world. The Neanderthal skeletons found in the cave date between 60-80,000 years.

It was excavated between 1957-1961 by Ralph Solecki and his team from Columbia University. The excavated area produced nine skeletons of Neanderthals of varying ages and states of preservation and completeness (labelled Shanidar I - IX). The tenth individual was recently discovered by M. Zeder during examination of a faunal assemblage from the site at Smithsonian institute. The remains suggest that Neandertals had funeral ceremonies, burying their dead with flowers, and took care of injured individuals.