Researchers present the visage

Researchers present the visage of a 75,000-year-old Neanderthal | CNN

Researchers present the visage Seventy-five thousand years ago, a woman in her forties was buried in a cave, her body resting in a gully that had been hollowed out. She had a rock possibly acting as a pillow behind her head, and her left hand was curled beneath her head.

Researchers present the visage

The woman, identified as Shanidar Z after the cave in Iraqi Kurdistan where she was discovered in 2018, belonged to the Neanderthal species, an extinct human group that vanished some 40,000 years ago.

Her skull was meticulously put together from 200 bone fragments by scientists examining her remains; the process took nine months. In order to rebuild her possible appearance, they followed the features of the skull and face.
The eye-catching replica appears in a recent

The BBC-produced documentary “Secrets of the Neanderthals” is streaming on Netflix as of this Thursday.

The skulls of Neanderthals differ from those of modern humans in that they lack chins and have prominent brow ridges, according to Dr. Emma Pomeroy, an associate professor in the University of Cambridge’s archaeology department and paleoanthropologist who helped excavate the skeleton and who also stars in the new movie. According to Pomeroy, the Shanidar Z facial reconstruction raises the possibility that these distinctions were not as pronounced in real life. The 1960 discovery of a “flower burial” altered the course of Neanderthal research. A recent finding casts doubt on it.
There’s a little artistic license there, but fundamentally is the actual skull and accurate information on the people we know,” the speaker remarked.

Pomeroy said, “She’s actually got quite a large face for her size.” “Her brow ridges are fairly prominent, something we wouldn’t normally notice, but if she were wearing modern attire, I doubt you would notice them.”

For around 300,000 years, Neanderthals inhabited Europe, the Middle East, and the mountains of Central Asia. For about 30,000 of those years, they coexisted with modern humans. It has been discovered through DNA analysis of modern humans that Neanderthals and Homo sapiens occasionally came into contact and interbred during this period.

Researchers present the visage

The 1950s saw the initial excavation of the Shanidar cave in Iraqi Kurdistan. There have been discovered the skeletal remains of over ten Neanderthals.
In Iraqi Kurdistan, the Shanidar Cave was initially dug in the 1950s. There have been discovered the skeletal remains of over ten Neanderthals. Graeme Barker fresh examination Because just the upper half of the body was intact, Pomeroy’s initial excavation of the skeleton did not reveal its sex. There were no obvious pelvic bones. Shanidar Z’s sex is finally revealed in the documentary. The scientists that first examined the remains used a very novel method that involved analyzing proteins inside tooth enamel.

Through comparison of the specimen’s arm bone length and diameter with data on contemporary humans, the researchers from the universities of Cambridge and Liverpool calculated the specimen’s height to have been approximately five feet (1.5 meters). An examination of the deterioration on Upon death, her teeth and bones indicated that she was in her mid-40s.

Pomeroy stated, “It’s a reasonable estimate, but we can’t be 100% sure that they weren’t older.” All we can conclude is that this person had a lengthy life. They most likely would have been highly significant in that civilization due to their knowledge and life experience.

200 pieces of crushed skull fragments were discovered. According to Pomeroy, reconstructing it was a “high-stakes, 3D jigsaw puzzle.”
200 pieces of crushed skull fragments were discovered. According to Pomeroy, reconstructing it was a “high-stakes, 3D jigsaw puzzle.” Thanks to Netflix
Because a Neanderthal grave was found there in, archaeologists are familiar with the cave where Shanidar Z was buried.

led scientists to surmise in 1960 that Neanderthals might have buried their dead with flowers, posing the first obstacle to the widely held belief that these prehistoric people were harsh and stupid. However, Pomeroy’s team’s later study has called into question that flower burial notion.
Rather, they think pollinating bees may have brought the pollen found amid the tombs.

A worker at the Natural History Museum in London examines a replica of a twenty-something Neanderthal man that is on show at the museum’s “Britain: One Million Years of the Human Story” exhibition, which runs from February 13 to September 28, 2014. (Image sourced from Getty Images by Will Oliver/PA Images)
Neanderthals may have left behind a quicker body clock for early risers.
Still, gone Over time, scientists have discovered more and more indications of the intellect, ingenuity, and complexity of Neanderthals, such as art, tools, and string.

Shanidar Cave was a frequent destination for Neanderthals to bury their dead. Research has revealed that the bones of ten Neanderthals have been discovered at the site, half of them seem to have been purposefully buried one after the other.

Research indicates that although Neanderthals may not have given floral tributes to their deceased, the people who lived in Shanidar Cave were probably compassionate people. For instance, a male Neanderthal buried there was paralyzed in one arm, deaf, and likely partially blinded from a head trauma, yet he lived a long period, suggesting that he was taken care of, according to studies.

The earliest known Neanderthal is Shanidar Z, in the cave in over 50 years, according to Pomeroy, but there may possibly be more discoveries to be made there. Pomeroy discovered a left shoulder blade, some rib bones, and a right hand belonging to another Neanderthal while making the documentary in 2022.

“At the moment, our understanding is that this is most likely the remains of a single individual who was disturbed,” the speaker stated.

For the documentary, Dutch paleo artists Adrie and Alfons Kennis recreated the Neanderthal woman’s face.
For the documentary, Dutch paleo artists Adrie and Alfons Kennis recreated the Neanderthal woman’s face. Thanks to Netflix
Putting the skull back together Rebuilding Shanidar Z’s skullβ€”which had been broken not long after his passingβ€”was a “high-stakes” task, according to Pomeroy.

3D jigsaw puzzle. The fossilized bones were retrieved in small blocks of cave mud, covered in foil, and solidified with a material similar to glue before being shipped to the University of Cambridge for examination.

Each block was micro-CT scanned in the Cambridge lab, and the results were used to direct the extraction of bone fragments. Over 200 pieces of the skull were stitched together by sight by Pomeroy’s colleague, Dr. LucΓ­a LΓ³pez-PolΓ­n, an archaeological conservator from the Catalan Institute for Human Palaeo ecology and Social Evolution in Spain, to restore it to its former shape.

The crew 3D printed and scanned the reconstructed skull, which served as the model for a reconstructed head made by the twin brothers Adrie and Alfons Kennis, two Dutch paleo artists who layered artificial muscle and skin, exposing Shanidar Z’s visage.

The recreation, according to Pomeroy, assisted in “bridging that gap between anatomy and 75,000 years of time.”