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63-550: The site, 1 ⁄ 2 mile (800 m) from the Great Zab river and near Rowanduz , lies at 2,100 feet (640 m) above sea level. The cave entrance is triangular, 82 feet (25 m) wide by 26 feet (7.9 m) high. Its dimensions are, at maximum, 175 feet (53 m) wide, 45 feet (14 m) wide, and 130 feet (40 m) deep. Anthropologist Ralph Solecki , part of the University of Michigan Expedition to justify

126-617: A degenerative joint disorder in his foot resulting from a fracture or sprain, which would have resulted in painful, limited movement. The skeleton is on display at the Hall of Human Origins at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. The skeleton of Shanidar 4, an adult male aged 30–45 years, was discovered by Solecki in 1960, positioned on his left side in a partial fetal position . For many years, Shanidar 4

189-438: A cranium, 4 teeth, 1 vertebrae, 8 ribs, and miscellaneous other bones. The arrangement of the broken skeletal remains was thought to have been due to animals intervening after death. Radiocarbon results put the date at about 46,000 before the present day. Some years later a small correction to the original cranial reconstruction was found. During the recent excavations more pieces of Shanidar 5 were found The cranium of Shanidar 5

252-450: A crushing fracture to his left orbit which would have left him partially or totally blind in one eye. Research by Ján Lietava shows that the individual exhibits "atypically worn teeth". Severe changes to the individual's incisors and a flattened capitulum show additional evidence towards Shanidar 1 suffering from a degenerative disease. Additionally, analysis shows that Shanidar 1 likely suffered from profound hearing loss, as his left ear canal

315-411: A deliberate mortuary practice by Neanderthals. It has also been suggested that some of the pollen was deposited by nesting solitary bees. The Shanidar 5 remains were found during the 1960 excavations, in layer D, about 4.5 meters below datum. He was an adult Neanderthal, thought to be male and around 40–50 years of age before death. He was caught in the same rockfall that killed Shanidar 2. Recovered were

378-639: A diagnosis of diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH), also known as Forestier's disease. This diagnosis would make Shanidar 1 the oldest hominin specimen clearly presenting this systemic condition. The researchers found these bone growths in multiple places all over the partial skeleton. Based on the healing of his injuries, Shanidar 1 lived with them for a substantial time before his death. Assuming that Neanderthals did perform surgery on Shanidar 1, his recovery demonstrates that their methods were successful in sustaining life. The prolonged survival of an individual with significant disabilities has also provided

441-631: A dissertation focused on faunal assemblages from the site of Tal-e Malyan in southeastern Iran. She later founded a zooarchaeological consulting firm, and secured a position at the Smithsonian Institution in 1992 as a research scientist in archaeobiology. She has conducted extensive fieldwork throughout the Near East, including in Iran, Israel, Turkey, and Syria. Her research focuses on the origins of plant and animal domestication, and

504-612: A gerbil-like rodent known as the Persian jird were found nearby. The jird is known to store large numbers of seeds and flowers at certain points in their burrows and this argument was used in conjunction with the lack of ritual treatment of the rest of the skeletons in the cave to suggest that the Shanidar 4 burial had natural, not cultural, origins. Paul B. Pettitt has stated that the "deliberate placement of flowers has now been convincingly eliminated", noting that "A recent examination of

567-521: A pronounced, painful limp. These findings in Shanidar 1's skeleton propose that he was unlikely to be able to provide for himself in a Neanderthal society. More recent analysis of Shanidar 1 by Washington University Professor Erik Trinkaus and Dr. Sébastien Villotte of the French National Centre for Scientific Research confirm that bony growths in his ear canals would have resulted in extensive hearing loss. These bony growths support

630-558: A tributary to the Great Zab. When the Mongols swept over Iraq in the 13th century and sacked Erbil, many survivors sought a refuge in the inaccessible valleys of the Great Zab. The Sapna Valley was home to both Christian and Muslim communities, as evidenced by Christian artefacts found at Zawi Chemi Shanidar. During the 19th century, the area was controlled by local Kurdish leaders. During World War I , heavy fighting took place in

693-486: Is completed. Numerous mountain streams and wadis join the Great Zab on its right and left banks. The Great Zab receives most of its waters from the left-bank tributaries; the Rubar-i-Shin, Rukuchuk, Rubar-i-Ruwandiz, Rubat Mawaran and Bastura Chai. The length of the Great Zab has been variously estimated at 392 kilometres (244 mi) and 473 kilometres (294 mi). Approximately 300 kilometres (190 mi) of

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756-603: Is considered by Solecki to belong to the Natufian culture . Also, in 2018, Shanidar-11 and Shanidar-12 were discovered. Investigations were conducted in 2014-2015 under the auspices of the Kurdistan Directorate of Antiquities. The remains found in the Shanidar cave are being reexamined to analyze the mortuary activity of the Neanderthal people who inhabited this area. There are various signs of activity with

819-520: Is the oldest evidence for anatomically modern human occupation of the Great Zab basin. The following Protoneolithic, or Natufian , occupation is contemporary with the oldest occupation of the nearby open-air site Zawi Chemi Shanidar. M'lefaat on the Khazir River (a tributary to the Great Zab) was a small village of hunter-gatherers dating to the 10th millennium BCE that was contemporary with

882-598: Is thought to be either congenital, a result of childhood disease and trauma, or due to an amputation later in his life. The sharp point caused by a distal fracture of the individual's right humerus points towards this theory of amputation. If the arm was amputated, this demonstrates one of the earliest signs of surgery on a living individual. The arm had healed, but the injury may have caused some paralysis down his right side, leading to deformities in his lower legs and feet. Studies show that this individual had suffered from two broken legs. This would have resulted in him walking with

945-696: The Kurdistan Region . Together with the Tigris, the Great Zab forms the boundary between Erbil Governorate and Ninawa Governorate . In its upper reaches, the Great Zab flows through steep, rocky gorges. The stretch between Amadiya and the Bekhme Gorge, where the Bekhme Dam remains unfinished, has been called the Sapna valley and will have a large portion of it inundated with water if the project

1008-631: The Little Zab – as "demoniacally possessed". Estimates of the drainage basin of the Great Zab vary widely – from a low 25,810 square kilometres (9,970 sq mi) to a high figure of 40,300 square kilometres (15,600 sq mi). Approximately 62 percent of the basin is located in Iraq; the remainder is in Turkey. To the south, the Great Zab basin borders on that of the Little Zab while on

1071-755: The Pre-Pottery Neolithic A in the Levant . An archaeological survey of the Citadel of Erbil , in the plain south of the lower course of the Great Zab, has shown that this site was continuously occupied at least from the 6th millennium BCE upward. The earliest historical reference to the region dates to the Ur III dynasty , when king Shulgi mentioned the city of Urbilum – the ancient name of modern-day Erbil. The great Assyrian capitals of Assur , Nineveh , Nimrud and Dur-Sharrukin were all located in

1134-456: The Tigris in Iraq south of Mosul . During its course, the river collects water from many tributaries and the drainage basin of the Great Zab covers approximately 40,300 square kilometres (15,600 sq mi). The river and its tributaries are primarily fed by rainfall and snowmelt – as a result of which discharge fluctuates highly throughout the year. At least six dams have been planned on

1197-475: The 2003 invasion , although casts remain at the Smithsonian. In 2006, while sorting a collection of faunal bones from the site at the Smithsonian, Melinda Zeder discovered leg and foot bones from a tenth Neanderthal, now known as Shanidar 10. Shanidar 1 was an elderly Neanderthal male known as 'Nandy' to his excavators. He was aged between 30 and 45 years. Shanidar 1 had a cranial capacity of 1,600 cm,

1260-409: The Bekhme Dam called for a 230-metre (750 ft) high rockfill dam and an underground hydroelectric power station housing six turbines with a total capacity of 1,560 MW. The reservoir that would have been created by the Bekhme Dam would have a storage capacity of 17 cubic kilometres (4.1 cu mi) and would have flooded numerous villages, the archaeological site of Zawi Chemi Shanidar and

1323-584: The Great Zab and its tributaries, but construction of only one, the Bekhme Dam , has commenced but was halted after the Gulf War . The Zagros Mountains have been occupied since at least the Lower Palaeolithic , and Neanderthal occupation of the Great Zab basin has been testified at the archaeological site of Shanidar Cave . Historical records for the region are available from the end of

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1386-449: The Great Zab basin saw frequent uprisings of local Kurdish tribes striving for autonomy. The Great Zab rises in Turkey in the mountainous region east of Lake Van at an elevation of approximately 3,000 metres (9,800 ft) amsl and joins the Tigris on its left bank in Iraq. In Turkey, the Great Zab traverses the provinces of Van and Hakkâri , whereas in Iraq it flows through Duhok Governorate and Erbil Governorate , both part of

1449-471: The Great Zab basin. Melinda A. Zeder Melinda A. Zeder is an American archaeologist and Curator Emeritus in the Department of Anthropology of the National Museum of Natural History , Smithsonian Institution . Her zooarchaeological research has revolutionized understandings of animal domestication . Zeder received her PhD in anthropology from the University of Michigan in 1985 with

1512-611: The Great Zab to irrigate the land around Nimrud, and this canal was restored by his successors Tiglath-Pileser III and Esarhaddon . This canal ran along the right bank of the Great Zab and cut through a rock bluff by means of a tunnel and is still visible today. After the fall of the Neo-Assyrian empire, the Medes gained control of the area, followed by the Achaemenids in 550 BCE. The Battle of Gaugamela in 331 BCE – one of

1575-545: The Great Zab: Iraq's Bekhme Dam and Turkey's 24 MW weir -controlled run-of-the-river Bağışlı Hydroelectric Power Plant. Five others have been planned in the Great Zab basin by both Turkey and Iraq. Turkey's State Hydraulic Works plans to construct the Çukurca and Doğanlı Dams near Çukurca and the Hakkâri Dam near the city of Hakkâri . The Hakkâri Dam with a 245 MW power station is in final design and

1638-696: The Iraqi Zagros, after the Shahrazor and the Ranya Plain. The Great Zab rises in the highlands of the Zagros Mountains, where a climate with cold winter and annual precipitation in excess of 1,000 millimetres (39 in) prevails. From there, the river flows into the foothill zone of the Zagros, where rainfall drops to less than 300 millimetres (12 in) per year at the confluence with

1701-594: The Near East, first explored the site with a sounding in 1951. He returned in 1953, under the auspices of the Directorate General of Antiquities of Iraq and the Smithsonian Institution, for another sounding. The first human body, Mousterian age, possibly Neanderthal, infant, was found. The next season, in 1956–57, conducted soundings at two nearby village sites and continued work at the Shanidar Cave. Three Neanderthal unfossilized skeletons were found at

1764-604: The Shanidar diet. It is unclear whether this diet was caused from cultural change or a change in the environment that lead to changes in previous foods as seen in the analysis of size decrease in goats. However, there are other lineages from Africa that share this diet and was culturally motivated which may indicate that the Neanderthals in the Shanidar cave may have possibly changed their diet for cultural reasons. In Layer B, dating back to approximately 12,000 years ago, Ralph S. Solecki found numerous snail shells which may indicate

1827-447: The Shanidar maintained this diet for some time. Great Zab The Great Zab or Upper Zab ( Arabic : الزَّاب الْكَبِيْر , romanized :  ez-Zâb el-Kebîr ; Kurdish : Zêy Badînan or Zêyê Mezin ; Turkish : Zap ; Syriac : ܙܒܐ ܥܠܝܐ , romanized :  zāba ʻalya ) is an approximately 400-kilometre (250 mi) long river flowing through Turkey and Iraq . It rises in Turkey near Lake Van and joins

1890-423: The Tigris. Average summer temperature in the foothill zone are generally higher in the foothill zone than in the mountains. The high Zagros is characterized by three different biomes : the area above the treeline at 1,800 metres (5,900 ft) where shrubs and herbs dominate, the area between 1,800 and 610 metres (5,910 and 2,000 ft) that was in the past dominated by open oak forest ( Quercus aegilops ), and

1953-703: The access road to Shanidar Cave (although not the cave itself). Evidence for human occupation of the Zagros reaches back into the Lower Palaeolithic, as evidenced by the discovery of many cave-sites dating to that period in the Iranian part of the mountain range. Middle Palaeolithic stone tool assemblages are known from Barda Balka, a cave-site south of the Little Zab; and from the Iranian Zagros. A Mousterian stone tool assemblage – produced by either Neanderthals or anatomically modern humans –

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2016-586: The area, and Rowanduz was pillaged by Russian soldiers in 1916. Following World War I, episodes of heavy fighting took place between the Barzani tribe – striving for the establishment of an independent Kurdish polity – and several other Kurdish tribes, and between the Barzanis and the Iraqi Government. The last of these uprisings started in 1974 and led to heavy bombardments of towns and villages in

2079-406: The average Neanderthal skull. This may prove that the Neanderthals of Shanidar had more of a "morphology of anatomically modern humans" than other Neanderthals, or that the group was very diverse. This points to similarities between the two species, Neanderthals and Homo sapiens, but it does not show any inherited "relationships within that species". Shanidar 3 was a 40- to 50-year-old male, found in

2142-526: The basis for conjecture about Neanderthal social behavior. According to paleoanthropologist Erik Trinkaus, Shanidar 1 must have been aided by others in order to survive his injuries. Due to the chronic effects of trauma, it was unlikely that this individual could independently provide for his family, so his post-injury lifespan may imply that he was kept alive due to his high social status or valuable cultural knowledge. This evidence has also led to speculation about Neanderthals' capacity for altruistic behavior and

2205-436: The cave. One was nearly complete (Shanidar I - field catalog no. 504 III), one was fragmentary (Shanidar III - field catalog no. 384 III), and for one only the skull was excavated at that time (Shanidar II - field catalog no. 618 III). Two Neolithic skeletons were also recovered, an infant and female teenager (with grave goods). Frequent use of explosives, up to eight sticks at a time, were employed in these excavations. During

2268-808: The decisive battles leading to the fall of the Achaemenid empire at the hands of Alexander the Great – supposedly took place north of the Great Zab in the vicinity of Mosul. After Alexander’s death in 323 BCE, control of the area shifted to the Seleucids . In 750 CE, the last Umayyad caliph Marwan II was defeated by the Abbasid As-Saffah in the Battle of the Zab on the banks of the Khazir River,

2331-415: The east it adjoins the Tigris basin. The Zagros consists of parallel limestone folds rising to elevations of over 3,000 metres (9,800 ft) amsl. The valleys – including that of the Great Zab – and the south-western foothill zone are filled with gravel , conglomerate , and sandstone ; the result of water erosion . The Amadiya valley within the Great Zab drainage basin is the third-largest valley in

2394-567: The fact that the curve was missing after the correction of a misplaced cranium bone fragment. Still, the frontal mid sagittal angle of this individual was very flat at 147º. The cranium shows signs of endocranial hyperostosis where plaques are found in the left and right side of the frontal crest and in the front area of sagittal sinus. In February 2020, researchers announced the discovery of more Neanderthal remains, which dated back to more than 70,000 years ago. Land snails were excavated and discovered in significant amounts and thought to be part of

2457-488: The foothill zone where the Great Zab flows into the Tigris, and the Great Zab basin became increasingly integrated into the Middle Assyrian and Neo-Assyrian empires. Nimrud, the capital of the empire until 706 BCE, was located only 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) away from the confluence of the Great Zab with the Tigris. The Assyrian king Ashurnasirpal II constructed a canal called Patti-Hegalli that tapped water from

2520-420: The fourth season, in 1960, a largely complete adult Neanderthal skeleton was recovered (Shanidar IV). Its state was considerably more fragile than the earlier specimens. While extracting it bones of another Neanderthal, possibly two, were noted and tentatively designated Shanidar VI. The former was presumed male and the later female based on size. The badly damaged and scattered remains of one adult Neanderthal male

2583-679: The impacts of agriculture on human prehistory. She has also pioneered approaches that combine archaeological and genetic analyses of plant and animal remains from archaeological sites. Zeder was elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2008 and the National Academy of Sciences in 2012. She is also a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and previously

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2646-547: The injury may have been caused by a long range projectile. This would be the earliest example of inter-personal or inter-specific violence in the human fossil record and the only such example amongst Neanderthals. The presence of early-modern humans , possibly armed with projectile weapons, in western Asia around the same time has been taken to imply that this injury may have resulted from inter-species conflict. However, spears produced by Neanderthals 300,000-400,000 years BP were likely used as projectiles. Shanidar 3 also suffered from

2709-409: The left tibia had teeth marks. Scavengers likely disposed of parts of his remains. There is evidence that Shanidar 2 was given a ritual send-off: a small pile of stones with some worked stone points (made out of chert ) were found on top of his grave. Also, there had been a large fire by the burial site. Shanidar 2 had a "higher cranial vault", and other skull proportions that did not quite match up to

2772-433: The microfauna from the strata into which the grave was cut suggests that the pollen was deposited by the burrowing rodent Meriones persicus , which is common in the Shanidar microfauna and whose burrowing activity can be observed today". Despite his conclusions that flowers were unlikely to have been deliberately placed, Petitt nevertheless concludes that the Shanidar burials, because they happened over so many years, represent

2835-593: The other remains were found in a single compressed block. Overall these excavations found the remains of seven adult and two infants Neanderthals , dating from around 65,000–35,000 years ago. These individuals were uncovered amongst a Mousterian layer (layer D), overlaid by a Baradostian culture layer (layer C), a Mesolithic Zarzian layer (layer B) and a Holocene Neolithic layer (layer A), accompanied by various stone tools and animal remains. The cave also contains two later proto-Neolithic cemeteries, one of which dates back about 10,600 BCE and contains 35 individuals, and

2898-460: The plan was abandoned. In 1976, another study proposed three different locations on the Great Zab, including the site suggested in the earlier study. This site was eventually chosen in 1989, when work on the dam commenced. Construction of the Bekhme Dam was interrupted by the outbreak of the Gulf War in 1990 and the dam remains unfinished. After the war, the site of the dam was looted. The plans of

2961-480: The pollen samples, all of which have been traditionally used, as diuretics , stimulants , and astringents and anti-inflammatories . This led to the idea that the man could possibly have had shamanic powers , perhaps acting as medicine man to the Shanidar Neanderthals. However, recent work has suggested that the pollen was perhaps introduced to the burial by animal action, as several burrows of

3024-532: The presence of ethos in the Neanderthal communities. The discovery of stone tools found in proximity to these individuals demonstrates that Neanderthals exhibited the intelligence to make everyday life easier for themselves, and their cognitive ability may have surpassed basic comprehension to include characteristics such as humility and compassion commonly associated with Homo sapiens . These individuals may have exhibited empathy or attached abstract meaning to life that caused them to want to help Shanidar 1. Shanidar 2

3087-575: The remains after death being that the position of the skull and mandible of Shanidar 1 were not natural. Examinations of other sites will be integral in understanding and analyzing the activity of the remains after death of those found in the Shanidar cave. Additional work is being conducted on the faunal remains found in Layer D at the University of Chicago to analyze butchery activity. Many remains found had cut marks that where caused by flint items which correlates to butchery practices. The ten Neanderthals at

3150-427: The river's course is located within Iraq. The average discharge of the Great Zab is 419 cubic metres (14,800 cu ft) per second, but peak discharges of up to 1,320 cubic metres (47,000 cu ft) per second have been recorded. The average annual discharge is 13.2 cubic kilometres (3.2 cu mi). Because of its torrential nature, Medieval Arab geographers have described the Great Zab – together with

3213-459: The same grave as Shanidar 1 and 2. A wound to the left 9th rib suggests that the individual died of complications from a stab wound by a sharp implement. Bone growth around the wound indicates that Shanidar 3 lived for at least several weeks after the injury with the object still embedded. The angle of the wound rules out self-infliction, but is consistent with an accidental or purposeful stabbing by another individual. Recent research has suggested that

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3276-574: The site were found within a Mousterian layer which also contained hundreds of stone tools including points , side-scrapers , and flakes and bones from animals including wild goats and spur-thighed tortoises . The first nine (Shanidar 1–9) were unearthed between 1957 and 1961 by Ralph Solecki and a team from Columbia University . The skeleton of Shanidar 3 is held at the Smithsonian Institution . The others (Shanidar 1, 2, and 4–8) were kept in Iraq and may have been lost during

3339-579: The third millennium BCE onward. In the Neo-Assyrian period, the Great Zab provided water for irrigation for the lands around the capital city of Nimrud . The Battle of the Zab – which ended the Umayyad Caliphate – took place near a tributary of the Great Zab, and the valleys of the river provided shelter for refugees from the Mongol conquest of Iraq. During the 19th and 20th centuries,

3402-438: The usual pollen found throughout the site, suggesting that entire flowering plants (or at least heads of plants) had been part of the grave deposit. Furthermore, a study of the particular flower types suggested that the flowers may have been chosen for their specific medicinal properties. Yarrow , cornflower , bachelor's button , St Barnaby's thistle , ragwort , grape hyacinth , horsetail and hollyhock were represented in

3465-476: The wetter and sometimes marshy river valleys. Other trees besides oak that can be found in the forested zone including juniper at higher elevations; ash, hawthorn, maple and walnut at intermediate elevations; and pistachio and olive trees in lower, drier areas. In the foothill zone, many areas are now cultivated, but there remain small patches of natural vegetation dominated by herbs of the genus Phlomis . To date, one large dam has been partially constructed on

3528-537: The Çukurca and Doğanlı Dams will support 245 MW and 462 MW power stations, respectively. Iraq has commenced construction of the Bekhme and Deralok Dams and planned two others – the Khazir-Gomel and Mandawa Dams. Plans to build a dam in the Great Zab at the Bekhme Gorge for flood control and irrigation were first proposed in 1937. A feasibility study determined that the site was not suited for dam construction and

3591-495: Was a Neanderthal male around the age of 30 who suffered from slight arthritis, found lying on his right side. It is estimated that Shanidar 2 was 5 feet 2 inches (157 cm) in stature, which places him just below the average height of a male Neanderthal. He was killed by rocks falling from the cave's ceiling, which crushed his skull and bones significantly. The skull had been compressed by about 5–6 cm (2.0–2.4 in). Much of his bones were missing when discovered, and

3654-426: Was around the height of 5 feet 7 inches (170 cm), and displayed severe signs of deformity. He was one of four reasonably complete skeletons from the cave which displayed trauma-related abnormalities, which in his case would have been debilitating to the point of making day-to-day life painful. During the course of the individual's life, he had suffered a violent blow to the left side of his face, creating

3717-591: Was designated Shanidar V. After the field material had been processed and analyzed more Neanderthal remains were declared. Shanidar 9 was an infant represented only by vertebrae. The remains of Shanidar 9 were discovered in the removal of Shanidar 4 when encasing it in sediment block and transporting it to the Baghdad Museum. Shanidar 8 was an adult with partial fragmentary skeleton. Shanidar 6 and 7 were skull, teeth and partial skeleton, all fragmentary. Shanidar 1, 2, 3, 5, and 7 were found as individual burials while

3780-404: Was partially blocked and his right ear canal was completely blocked by exostoses . He also suffered from a withered right arm which had been fractured in several places. A fracture of the individual's C5 vertebrae is thought to have caused damage to his muscle function (specifically the deltoids and biceps) of the right arm. Shanidar 1 healed, but this caused the loss of his lower arm and hand. This

3843-715: Was recently excavated in Erbil . Neanderthals also occupied the site of Shanidar. This cave-site, located in the Sapna Valley, has yielded a settlement sequence stretching from the Middle Palaeolithic up to the Epipalaeolithic period. The site is particularly well known for its Neanderthal burials. The Epipalaeolithic occupation of Shanidar, contemporary with the use of the Kebaran stone tool assemblage,

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3906-407: Was reconstructed by Erik Trinkaus and his colleagues beginning 1976 and was finalized in 1994 after correcting a couple of errors caught in the process. During the process of reconstruction, there were discussions suggesting signs of intentional cranial deformation. Erik Trinkaus suggested that Shanidar 5 had its cranium deformed intentionally as an infant. However, this implication was overruled due to

3969-404: Was thought to provide strong evidence for a Neanderthal burial ritual. Routine soil samples from around the body, gathered for pollen analysis in an attempt to reconstruct the palaeoclimate and vegetational history of the site, were analysed eight years after its discovery. In two of the soil samples in particular, whole clumps of pollen were discovered by Arlette Leroi-Gourhan in addition to

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