Shanidar Cave

Useful Information

Location:	Goratu, Erbil Governorate. Within the Zagros Mountains and lies close to the Great Zabi river valley. 33 Bla-Shanidar road, turn north at Sako Lower village on Gali-Shakfte road, then turn right to the cave. (36.8348085, 44.2191486)
Open:	no restrictions. [2024]
Fee:	free. [2024]
Classification:	Karst Cave
Light:	bring torch
Dimension:	L=40 m, W=53 m, H=14 m, A=640 m asl. Portal: W=25 m, H=8 m.
Guided tours:	self guided
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:	Emma Pomeroy, Paul Bennett, Chris O. Hunt, Tim Reynolds, Lucy Farr, Marine Frouin, James Holman, Ross Lane, Charles French, Graeme Barker (2020): New Neanderthal remains associated with the 'flower burial' at Shanidar Cave Antiquity. 94 (373): 11–26. DOI Ralph S. Solecki (1971): Shanidar: The First Flower People Knopf, pp 290, ISBN-10: 0394445112, ISBN-13: 978-0394445113. Open Library
Address:	Shanidar Cave, Goratu, Erbil Governorate.
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1951	cave first explored by Ralph Solecki during a University of Michigan Expedition to the Near East.
1953	more sounding by Ralph Solecki and the discovery of an infant from the Moustérien.
1956–57	discovery of three Neanderthal unfossilized skeletons.
1960	fourth excavation by Ralph Solecki, discovery of an almost complete Neanderthal skeleton.
2003	findings stored at Iraq institutions lost during the invasion.
2006	Melinda Zeder discovers a leg and foot bones from a tenth Neanderthal in bones stored at the Smithsonian.
2015-2019	excavations by a team of British archaeologists under the auspices of the Kurdistan Directorate of Antiquities.

Description

Shanidar Cave is called ئەشکەوتی شانەدەر in Kurdish, which is romanized Eşkewtî Şaneder. Other variations of the name are Şaneder or Zewî Çemi Şaneder. As it is located in the Iraqui part of Kurdistan, the Farsi name كَهَف شانِدَر is also relevant. This cave is a huge portal at the foot of a vertical limestone cliff, followed by a spacious entrance hall. The cave is quite famous among scientists for being the most spectacular neanderthal site in the world. There is even a Netflix documentary about the cave, narrated by Patrick Stewart, the Captain of the USS Enterprise. Ehm, one of the captains of one of the Enterprises.

But back to the cave, which was more or less "discovered" by Ralph Solecki during a University of Michigan Expedition to the Near East in 1951. During this trip he did not excavate, he actually did a sounding or shovel test pit, which is a series holes excavated with a shovel to determine if the sediment contains any cultural remains which are not visible on the surface. The results were positive, and so he returned two years later for another sounding and discovered the first human skeleton, an infant from the Moustérien which was possibly Neanderthal. He excavated with a team from Columbia University and was supported by the Directorate General of Antiquities of Iraq and the Smithsonian Institution. Numerous Neanderthal skeletons were discovered, three during the 1956–57 excavations, and one more in 1960. After analyzing all the findings, which were partly in a very bad shape, a total of seven adult and two infant Neanderthals, dating from around 65,000–35,000 years ago, were identified. The cave also contains numerous younger layers, including two later proto-Neolithic cemeteries, one from about 10,600 BCE containing 35 individuals.

After this early successful exploration, the political situation changed, and it was not possible to travel to Iraq any more. The cave was used by nomadic Kurds to hide from the Saddham Hussein regime, access for foreign scientists was not possible. Unfortunately, the skeletons which were stored in the country were lost during the 2003 invasion. Only Shanidar 3 and casts of the other bones remain at the Smithsonian. And in 2006 Melinda Zeder discovered a leg and foot bones from a tenth Neanderthal, among bones stored at the Smithsonian. Before they were thought to be animal bones. After the Golf War and subsequent quarrels with the ISIS, the cave was finally accessible again. Under the auspices of the Kurdistan Directorate of Antiquities a team of British archaeologists conducted excavations in 2015 and 2016. Again, a Neanderthal skeleton was discovered and analyzed.

The importance of this site is not only the huge number of remains. Many Neanderthal sites show only a few teeth or a single bone. Here the skeletons of 10 individuals were found. One skeleton was almost complete, and quite interesting he was an old man who had numerous healed wounds. This was new and important: it showed social behaviour among Neanderthals, the group hunted for the injured man, to keep him alive. They buried him in a way that animals like hyenas were not able to eat him, and there was a grave with flowers, which may have been another burial ritual. But there is also the possibility that the flowers were pulled into the grave by small rodents. Nevertheless, the excavations showed that Neanderthals had a social live similar to early humans.

The cave is freely accessible, there is no gate. The excavations are a huge pit in the middle, and they are surrounded by a fence, so its possible to see them, even walk around, but not to enter the actual excavation area. In the 1960s, when Ralph Solecki there was no trail to the cave, they walked just up the grassy slope. Today there is a paved road to base of the slope, a parking klot, some buildings of unknown use, and a huge arc leading to a stone staircase which goes up to the cave in serpentines. In other words the cave is fully developed with trails and railings, due to the huge entrance portal light is not required. It was developed for tourism lately, it is published in official government websites and on tourist sites. While the area is accessible for scientists since 2015, its actually not a good idea to go there for tourism. Most governments warn their people not to go to Iraq and especially not to Kurdistan. It seems there is at least a little domestic tourism to the cave, so we finally decided to list the place.