The Shanidar Cave Neanderthals

From Origin Stories by The Leakey Foundation

April 29, 2025 · 34 min · Episode 87

About this episode

This episode explores the archaeological findings at Shanidar Cave and their implications for understanding Neanderthals.

Shanidar Cave is a unique archaeological site in Kurdistan where scientists found the remains of 10 Neanderthal men, women, and children. Some of these individuals had survived serious injuries, and one seemed to have been buried with flowers beneath his body. The discoveries at Shanidar challenged long-standing ideas of who Neanderthals were and what separates our species from theirs. Now, more than 50 years after the original excavations, scientists have returned to Shanidar to answer lingering questions about the Neanderthals who lived and died there. Double your impact Support Origin Stories with a one-time or monthly donation. Your gift will be matched, and every dollar helps make this show possible. Go to leakeyfoundation.org/originstories to donate. Links to learn more The Shanidar Cave Project Ralph Solecki's excavations Ralph S. and Rose L. and Solecki Papers at the Smithsonian Shanidar Z: 75,000-year-old face revealed More about Shanidar Z Shanidar Cave location New Shanidar research on cooking Revisiting the flower burial Shanidar: The First Flower People (pdf of book by Ralph Solecki) Sponsors Origin Stories is a project of The Leakey Foundation , a donor-supported…

Topics covered

Neanderthals
archaeology
human origins
Shanidar Cave
scientific research

Keywords

Neanderthal
archaeological site
Shanidar Cave
Ralph Solecki
flower burial
human origins
Kurdistan

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: The Leakey Foundation

Places: Shanidar Cave, Kurdistan

The Shanidar Cave Neanderthals

About this episode

Topics covered

Keywords

Sponsors

Mentioned in this episode

More episodes of Origin Stories