The Shanidar III Neanderthal: A Mousterian Murder Mystery

The Shanidar III Neanderthal skeleton was uncovered on April 16, 1957 by paleo-archaeologist Ralph Solecki after a local laborer noted the presence of bone during the third season of excavations at the Shanidar Cave site in northern Iraq. With attention drawn to the excavation area, associated with the Mousterian era dated at approximately 100,000 to 50,000 years ago, Solecki’s excavation eventually discovered the first known examples (nine skeletons in total) of Neanderthals in the region! While the team was unable to fully excavate this burial in 1957, they returned in 1960 to recover what is now associated with Shanidar III [1]. Unfortunately, they were still unable to identify the remains as those of a Neanderthal until it was more carefully assessed out of the field. Unlike the Shanidar I and II skeletons, which were actually discovered at a later time, the skull of Shanidar III was never recovered. The skull provides many features diagnostic helpful to classifying an individual as a Neanderthal, meaning its absence could have been responsible for the lack of recognition. Fortunately, other methods, such as measurements of postcranial bone robustness, allowed for the positive identification of Shanidar III as a Neanderthal [1].

A cross section illustration of the area where Shanidar III was excavated, circa 1960. [1]

Exhibited now at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. [2], this specimen is among the only Neanderthals in America that is both on display to visitors and available to outside researchers. Researchers of the skeleton, Erik Trinkaus and T. Dale Stewart, noted that the skeleton initially received little attention due to its fragmentary state and the fact that it had not been immediately identifiable as a Neanderthal [3]. Of particular note to researchers has been the presence of a sharp force trauma wound to the left ninth rib of this individual. The wound itself displayed signs of healing, indicating that this individual lived for at least several weeks after the injury itself had occurred [4]. But then what killed this Neanderthal?

The Shanidar III Neanderthal in situ, or in its original position during excavation, 1960. [1]

In classic true crime fashion, the answer is not clear. A look at the evidence produces several possible scenarios. The rib wound seems like a possibility when considering the severity of thoracic trauma. This injury would have likely resulted in a collapsed lung which, in a world without advanced medicines, could prove deadly [3]. The angle of the damage to the bone indicates that it is unlikely to be self-inflicted, which likely indicates one thing: someone else did it [4]. At over 50,000 years old, this could be representative of the oldest known instance of interpersonal violence. But we know that Shanidar III did not immediately die from this event; there was too much healing for the death to have been a direct result of this injury. However, this does not rule out a cause of death related to, but not directly a result of immediate injury. Infection of the pneumothorax, or a collapsed lung, could be the second possible culprit in this death. Finally, an unexpected player becomes suspect: the cave itself. Depressions in the dirt around the body, in concert with the large rocks and stones on top of the body, indicate that the individual was crushed during a cave in [1]. Whether or not this caused its death, or simply occurred after the Neanderthal had already died, remains unknown.

Close up view of the rib wound on the Shanidar III Neanderthal skeleton. Photograph courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution’s Human Origins Program.

As is the nature of archaeology, the complete answer may never be fully determined. While these scenarios represent best guesses, it will always be a mystery which can never be fully solved. Researchers make use of the available materials such as the specimen itself; the written records like field notebooks, correspondence, and photographs created by past archaeologists like Ralph Solecki; and technologies to determine, to the best of their ability, what could have happened to this ancient individual. With this information we learn about our collective past and begin to piece together what life could have been like all of those years ago.

Indeed, revisiting the wealth of information contained in the Soleckis’ archives and their original finds forms an important part of new, ongoing research at Shanidar Cave. In addition to conducting new excavations at the site, members of the team led by Professor Graeme Barker from the University of Cambridge are re-examining some of the evidence for whether some of the Shanidar Neanderthals may have been killed by rock fall, and whether they were intentionally buried. Investigations by Dr Emma Pomeroy and Dr Lucy Farr from the University of Cambridge are combining a detailed analysis of the relationships between rock fall and the Neanderthal remains as documented in the archive with modern techniques for identifying breaks to the bones that happened around the time of death (which may support the role of rock fall as a cause of death) and microscopic bone damage that indicates whether the remains were quickly buried after death (suggesting this was done intentionally) [5, 6]. There are always new questions to ask of older excavations, which is why the long term curation of these archives is so vital, and bit by bit, by combining old and new research, we can arrive at a better understanding of how our ancestors lived and died.

Be sure to check out other Solecki Project posts, like Molly Kamph’s Connecting Archives and Artifacts: Year Two of the Ralph S. and Rose L. Solecki Papers and Artifacts Project and Tiffany Priest’s Reuniting a Collection: The Ralph S. and Rose L. Solecki Collection Storage Integration and look out for our final post Excavations at Zawi Chemi Shanidar: An Example of Human Innovation by Sophia Carroll! Thank you to Dr. Emma Pomeroy of the University of Cambridge for contributing updates on the current archaeological at Shanidar Cave. The Ralph S. and Rose L. Solecki Papers and Artifacts Project was made possible by two grants from the Smithsonian Institution’s Collections Care and Preservation Fund.

Matthew Capece, Intern, Fall 2018
Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History


Sources
[1] The Ralph S. and Rose L. Solecki papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
[2] David H. Koch Hall of Human Origins, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution.
[3] Erik Trinkaus and T. Dale Stewart, 1980. “The Shanidar 3 Neanderthal: A Fragmentary Skeleton form Shanidar Cave, Northern Iraq” Sumer.
[4] Steven E. Churchill, Robert G. Franciscus, Hilary A. McKean-Peraza, Julie A. Daniel, Brittany R. Warren, 2009. “Shanidar 3 Neandertal rib puncture wound and paleolithic weaponry” Journal of Human Evolution, vol. 57 pp. 163-178.
[5] Tim Reynolds, William Boismier, Lucy Farr, Chris Hunt, Dlshad Abdulmutalb and Graeme Barker, 2015. “New investigations at Shanidar Cave, Iraqi Kurdistan.” Antiquity: A Review of World Archaeology vol. 89, no. 348.
[6] Elizabeth Culotta, 2019. “New remains discovered at site of famous Neanderthal ‘flower burial’” Science, doi:10.1126/science.aaw7586