Overview

Shanidar A is a roughly 75,000-year-old Neanderthal individual represented by a partial skeleton discovered at Shanidar Cave in the Zagros Mountains of northern Iraq. The report describes Shanidar A as one of five Neanderthal individuals, four adults and one infant, whose bodies were found in the cave.

Shanidar Cave is an archaeological site on Bradost Mountain within the Zagros Mountains in the Erbil Governorate of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The cave has yielded Neanderthal remains and is associated with evidence of Neanderthal occupation in the Great Zab basin.

Physical remains and injuries

The reported remains include a left shoulder blade, some ribs, a nearly complete right hand, and seven teeth. The shoulder blade has a 1.5 cm wound interpreted as a deeply penetrating stab, possibly caused by a forceful thrust from a sharpened wooden spear. The report states that Neanderthals are known to have used such weapons and suggests interpersonal violence, from members of the same group or rival groups, as the likeliest explanation.

Shanidar A also shows an earlier severe facial injury. The teeth indicate a blow to the face that smashed and lost front teeth; one tooth was split and rotated in the mouth, and others were pushed out of position. Researchers place the individual age in the mid-40s and say gender could not be determined. The injury likely occurred at least a year before death, and the pain would have made eating and drinking difficult, suggesting a need for food mashing, rest, and care from group members.

Significance

Shanidar A is central to reports interpreting Neanderthal behaviour as capable of both violence and care. The combination of a penetrating spear-like wound and evidence of survival after a severe facial injury is presented as contrasting facets of human nature in the same individual, challenging stereotypes of Neanderthals as unintelligent or uncaring.

Context and uncertainty

Neanderthals were archaic humans who inhabited Europe and Western and Central Asia during the Middle to Late Pleistocene and are generally considered extinct by about 40,000 years ago. The supplied sources describe Shanidar Cave as containing Neanderthal remains discovered in 1953, including Shanidar 1 and Shanidar 4, but do not state whether Shanidar A is the same as, or distinct from, those earlier individuals.