Did Neanderthals Ritually Bury Their Dead? New Evidence Found in Iraq

Argument has raged for half a century over a cache of Neanderthal remains found in a cave in Iraqi Kurdistan, and whether some or all were ritually buried. One may have even been interred with a floral wreath, its discoverer suggested decades ago. Now, fresh excavation of Shanidar Cave using modern techniques has shed fresh light on the finds from decades ago and supports the theory of Neanderthal mortuary practice, says the paper’s lead author, Emma Pomeroy of the University of Cambridge.

The paper on the latest finds, including the missing bottom half of one of the roughly ten Neanderthals found there, was reported Tuesday by Pomeroy and colleagues in the journal of Antiquity (published in partnership with Cambridge University Press).

[…]

The scientific paper is here:

New Neanderthal remains associated with the ‘flower burial’ at Shanidar CaveLink

Shanidar Cave in Iraqi Kurdistan became an iconic Palaeolithic site following Ralph Solecki’s mid twentieth-century discovery of Neanderthal remains. Solecki argued that some of these individuals had died in rockfalls and—controversially—that others were interred with formal burial rites, including one with flowers. Recent excavations have revealed the articulated upper body of an adult Neanderthal located close to the ‘flower burial’ location—the first articulated Neanderthal discovered in over 25 years. Stratigraphic evidence suggests that the individual was intentionally buried. This new find offers the rare opportunity to investigate Neanderthal mortuary practices utilising modern archaeological techniques.

The practice of burying the dead is quite old. And not limited to us modern Humans.

It’s a rather telling piece of evidence, of how long humans (not just us moderns, but also Neanderthals) have ritualized death.

Our mortality is the defining event shaping our view of what to do with ourselves. We are born unaware and over time learn of our limit of existence.

It is this which drives our beliefs and actions.

And it is what makes religion so powerful.