The Face of a 75,000-Year-Old Neanderthal Woman

 

Scientists Unveil the Face of a 75,000-Year-Old Neanderthal Woman

In a groundbreaking discovery, researchers have reconstructed the face of a Neanderthal woman who lived 75,000 years ago. The woman, known as Shanidar Z, was buried in a cave in Iraqi Kurdistan, and her remains were uncovered in 2018. The team, led by Dr. Emma Pomeroy, a paleoanthropologist from the University of Cambridge, used advanced techniques to piece together her skull from 200 bone fragments.

The reconstruction reveals a woman with pronounced brow ridges and a large face, but surprisingly, she doesn't look too different from modern humans. "She's actually got quite a large face for her size," Pomeroy said. "She's got quite big brow ridges, which typically we wouldn't see, but I think dressed in modern clothes, you probably wouldn't look twice."

Shanidar Z is a significant find because she provides new insights into the lives of Neanderthals, a type of ancient human that disappeared around 40,000 years ago. The reconstruction of her face is featured in a new documentary, "Secrets of the Neanderthals," produced by BBC for Netflix.

The team used a combination of cutting-edge techniques, including micro-CT scans and 3D printing, to rebuild Shanidar Z's skull. The fossilized bones were hardened with a glue-like substance, removed in small blocks of cave sediment, and wrapped in foil before being sent to the University of Cambridge for analysis.

The skull was found crushed and fragmented into 200 pieces, making the reconstruction a "high-stakes, 3D jigsaw puzzle," according to Pomeroy. Her colleague, Dr. Lucía López-Polín, an archaeological conservator from the Catalan Institute for Human Palaeoecology and Social Evolution in Spain, pieced together the skull fragments by eye to return it to its original shape.

The team then scanned and 3D-printed the rebuilt skull, which formed the basis of a reconstructed head created by Danish paleoartists Adrie and Alfons Kennis. The twin brothers built up layers of fabricated muscle and skin to reveal Shanidar Z's face, helping to "bridge that gap between anatomy and 75,000 years of time," Pomeroy said.

Shanidar Z is believed to have been in her mid-40s when she died, making her an older adult for her time. The analysis of her remains suggests that she had lived a relatively long life, and her age and experience would have made her an important member of her society.

The cave where Shanidar Z was buried is well-known among archaeologists because a Neanderthal grave discovered there in 1960 led researchers to believe that Neanderthals may have interred their dead with flowers. However, subsequent research by Pomeroy's team has cast doubt on this theory, suggesting that the pollen discovered among the graves may have arrived via pollinating bees.

Despite this, the site has yielded significant evidence of Neanderthals' intelligence, sophistication, and complexity, including art, string, and tools. The inhabitants of Shanidar Cave were likely an empathetic species, with one male Neanderthal buried there having been deaf, paralyzed, and partially blind, yet living a long time, indicating that he must have been cared for.

Shanidar Z is the first Neanderthal found in the cave in more than 50 years, but the site could still yield more discoveries. During the filming of the documentary in 2022, Pomeroy uncovered a left shoulder blade, some rib bones, and a right hand belonging to another Neanderthal.

The reconstruction of Shanidar Z's face offers a unique glimpse into the lives of our ancient ancestors and challenges our prevailing views of Neanderthals as brutish and unsophisticated. As Pomeroy said, "I think our interpretation at the moment is that actually this is probably the remains of a single individual, which has then been disturbed." The discovery of Shanidar Z provides a fascinating window into the past and sheds new light on the lives of our ancient human relatives.