70,000-year-old Neanderthal discovery shows they likely 'buried their dead with flowers'

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A shocking new study suggests that Neanderthals may have buried their dead with flowers.

The research looks at an "articulated" (all the bones in proper order) Neanderthal skeleton that was recently unearthed in Iraqi Kurdistan, the first such skeleton found in more than 20 years. Known as Shanidar Z, the Neanderthal was likely "deliberately buried," according to experts. Clumps of ancient pollen were also found, suggesting that flowers were also a part of the burial ritual.

"So much research on how Neanderthals treated their dead has to involve returning to finds from sixty or even a hundred years ago, when archaeological techniques were more limited, and that only ever gets you so far," said the study's lead author, Emma Pomeroy, in a statement.

The Neanderthal skull, flattened by thousands of years of sediment and rock fall, in situ in Shanidar Cave, Iraqi Kurdistan. (Credit: Graeme Barker)

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"To have primary evidence of such quality from this famous Neanderthal site will allow us to use modern technologies to explore everything from ancient DNA to long-held questions about Neanderthal ways of death, and whether they were similar to our own," Pomeroy added.

New analysis shows that Shanidar Z is believed to be more than 70,000-years-old and was likely a middle- or elderly-aged adult when he died.

The researchers started exploring the Shanidar Cave where the skeleton was found in 2014 but had to postpone digging for a year because of its close proximity to Islamic State forces.

The bones of the Neanderthal’s left arm and ribs in situ in Shanidar Cave. (Credit: SWNS)

After the dig was restarted, a rib, part of a spine and a clenched right hand were discovered. A crushed skull and the left hand were subsequently found years later.

"The new excavation suggests that some of these bodies were laid in a channel in the cave floor created by water, which had then been intentionally dug to make it deeper," Cambridge's McDonald Institute of Archaeology professor Graeme Barker added in the statement. "There is strong early evidence that Shanidar Z was deliberately buried."

The cave was first discovered in the 1950s by archaeologist Ralph Solecki (who died in 2019), who unearthed 10 skeletons of Neanderthal men, women and children, including one that had clumps of pollen surrounding it. However, for nearly 70 years, the idea that Neanderthals buried their dead with flowers was highly controversial, but the new findings add credence to Solecki's idea.

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Ribs and spine of the Neanderthal emerging from the sediment in Shanidar Cave. (Credit: SWNS)

"In recent years we have seen increasing evidence that Neanderthals were more sophisticated than previously thought, from cave markings to use of decorative shells and raptor talons," Pomeroy explained. "If Neanderthals were using Shanidar cave as a site of memory for the repeated ritual interment of their dead, it would suggest cultural complexity of a high order."

The study has been published in the scientific journal Antiquity.

Researchers have unlocked several secrets about Neanderthals in recent memory. Earlier this month, scientists at Princeton University found Neanderthal DNA in African populations.

In January, experts looking at seashells fashioned into tools revealed that some Neanderthals had a much closer connection to the sea than was previously thought.

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Fox News' James Rogers contributed to this story.