Neanderthals: Death, Mortuary, and Funeral Rites

Modern humans take great care of our dead, we revere them in many cultures, and in almost every culture we take care of our dead in one way or another. 

It seems like it is something that is uniquely human, and while there is indeed a question of “What is Human?”. For now, we will leave that for another episode. For now, we will be focusing on the idea that non human hominins could have also disposed of their dead in a direct way, and even possibly, in a ritualistic way. 

Of course, with out some sort of window into the past, we cannot know for sure what the Neanderthals did, how they lived, and as importantly, how they died and what happened to them afterwards. 

Dr. Pomeroy is currently working on Shandihar Cave in Iraq, a very important location for Neanderthal studies, a cave where up to ten or more Neanderthal bodies have been found. 

Some of these individuals have very interesting features that could really change the way that people view Neanderthals, and their complexity. 

Tune in to find out all about this cave, Neanderthals, and a great amount of info surrounding their deaths!