New evidence from Shanidar Cave, Iraqi Kurdistan.
A Leicester Lit&Phil lecture by Professor Graeme Barker CBE FBA FSA FRGS, Disney Professor of Archaeology Emeritus, University of Cambridge.
Shanidar Cave is an iconic site in Neanderthal archaeology from 1950s excavations by Ralph Solecki that transformed the image of Neanderthals as archetypal cavemen and cavewomen. New excavations led by Graeme Barker are demonstrating even more complexity in Neanderthal lives (see Secrets of the Neanderthals, Netflix May 2024), making their disappearance 40,000 years ago even more intriguing.