Explain what the face of a Neanderthal woman who lived 75,000 years ago looked like
The skull was found in a cave that led to 50 years closed for scientists For political reasons, it was therefore named Shanidar Jade in his honour.
United Kingdom: How was the discovery?
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Courtesy C5N.
The scientists’ work was featured in the BBC documentary “Secrets of the Neanderthals” on the Netflix platform, and attempts to analyze What were the distant relatives of modern man like?before its extinction.
The lower part of the woman’s skeleton was Excavated in 1960 next to the remains of at least 10 Neanderthals, The person who carried out this work was an American archaeologist Ralph SoleckiKnown for his work in restoring the image of this species.
The skull of Shanidar Z was discovered, almost certainly crushed by a falling stone shortly after his death. With their reconstruction, they concluded that it was a woman about 40 years old At the time of his death.
according to the teacher graeme barkerThe team from the McDonald Institute of Archaeological Research in Cambridge “did not expect to find any more Neanderthals” in the cave and only wanted to date the burials so as to be able to contribute to the debate about the reasons the site was used. Extinction of the Neanderthals.
Shanidar was part of a group of Z five samples Found right behind a huge vertical rock in the center of the cave, which could have served as an indicator for Neanderthals to bury their dead in the same place.
The placement of the remains of the bodies found in the same position and facing the same direction may mean that they contained “legacy“There was a transfer of knowledge around death and between generations,” he explains. chris huntA professor at Liverpool John Moores University, who took part in the research.
What was the extraction and reconstruction of the Neanderthal skull like?
emma pomeroyA paleontologist from the University of Cambridge explained it Extracting the remains of Shanidar Z was a very delicate operation, First, the bones and surrounding sediment had to be strengthened in situ with a solid substance such as glue before being removed into many small pieces wrapped in aluminum foil.
Then More than 200 skull fragments were collected at the Cambridge Laboratory and, once rebuilt, was 3D printed. Also, archaeologist Adri and Alphonse Kenis managed to recreate his face Applying layers of regenerated skin and muscle.
Although Neanderthal skulls were very different from humans“With huge brow ridges and practically no chin,” the “reconstructed face” suggests These differences were not that obvious.” says Pomeroy.
According to paleoanthropologists, this allows us to see “how crossings between species occurred, given that approximately Every person alive today has Neanderthal DNA,