- Written by Jonathan Amos, Rebecca Morrell, Alison Francis
- BBC Science News
image source, BBC Studios/Jamie Symonds
What would it be like to meet one of our closest living relatives from 75,000 years ago?
Scientists have successfully reconstructed what a Neanderthal woman looked like when she was alive.
It was based on the remains of a skull that had been flattened and shattered, and when excavated the bones were extremely soft, with the consistency of a “well-soaked biscuit.”
The researchers first had to strengthen the pieces before reassembling them.
A professional paleoartist then created a 3D model.
The expression appears in a new documentary, The Secret of the Neanderthals, produced by BBC Studios for Netflix. This documentary examines what we know about our long-lost evolutionary relatives, who went extinct about 40,000 years ago.
This sculpture represents the faces of these people.
“It’s very exciting and indeed a great privilege to be able to work with the remains of any individual, especially the remains of someone as special as her,” she told BBC News.
image source, BBC Studios/Jamie Symonds
The skull on which the model was based was discovered in Shanidar Cave in Iraqi Kurdistan. This is the iconic site where the remains of at least 10 Neanderthal men, women and children were exhumed in the 1950s.
When the British group was invited back by Kurdish authorities in 2015, they quickly discovered a new skeleton called Shanidar Z, which made up most of the upper body, including the spine, shoulders, arms and hands.
Almost all of the skull remained, too, but had been crushed into a 2 centimeter (0.7 inch) thick layer, probably by a rock that had fallen from the cave’s roof at some point in the distant past.
“The skull was basically flat like a pizza,” said Professor Graham Barker of the University of Cambridge, who is leading the new excavations at Shanidar.
“It’s been an amazing journey to get from there to where we are now. As archaeologists, we can be irreverent about what we do. But the fact that we’re touching on the past sometimes makes us feel inadequate.” We forget how great that is.”
image source, graham barker
With permission from the local antiquities department, the skull fragments were transported to Britain as a mass of sediment, where the painstaking work of freeing them, stabilizing them and putting them back together began.
This intricate jigsaw puzzle took archaeologists more than a year to complete.
The reconstructed skull was then surface scanned and the 3D print was given to Dutch artists Adrie and Alfons Kennis. They are renowned for their skill in creating anatomically accurate representations of ancient humans from bone and fossil remains.
But while this sculpture, with its rather contemplative representation of her, is interesting, it is the original skeleton that is of real value.
The team is convinced that “she is the one.”
Pelvic bones are helpful in determining, but in the upper body, pelvic bones were not recovered.
Instead, the researchers relied on a specific key protein found in tooth enamel that is linked to a woman’s genetics. The slight height of the skeleton also supports this interpretation.
How old? She probably died in her mid-40s, as evidenced by the fact that her teeth were worn down close to their roots.
“When her teeth wear down this much, chewing becomes less effective than before, so she won’t be able to eat in quite the same way,” Dr. Pomeroy explained.
“There are several other signs of poor dental health, including infections and periodontal disease. I believe she was at a natural end of life by this time.”
For a long time, scientists considered Neanderthals to be savage and unsophisticated compared to our species.
However, since the discovery at Shanidar, that view has changed.
This cave is famous for displaying what appears to be some kind of burial act. The body was carefully placed in a ditch next to a tall rock pillar. All the dead shared a similar orientation in how they were placed.
image source, BBC/Gwynduff Hughes
Some have argued that these Neanderthals were buried with flowers, perhaps indicating a spiritual awakening or even religion, as one skeleton had pollen all over it.
But the British research team believes the pollen was more likely left behind by bees that later dug holes, or perhaps from flowering branches that were placed on the bodies. .
Professor Chris Hunt, from Liverpool John Moores University, said: “It’s not because there were flowers on the branches, but rather the branches themselves could have prevented something like a hyena from accessing the remains.”
“I hesitate to use the word ‘burial,’ but I think they use the word ‘burial’ to get away from the idea of a pastor or a church. But if they have a tradition that this is your place, There is no doubt in my mind that I kept my grandmother there. ”
The Secret of the Neanderthals will be released worldwide on the Netflix streaming platform on Thursday.
Additional reporting by Gwyndaf Hughes.
