1
00:00:33,963 --> 00:00:37,403
Long ago,
the plains of East Africa
2
00:00:37,403 --> 00:00:40,483
were home to our distant ancestors.
3
00:00:47,043 --> 00:00:51,123
For reasons lost to time,
some of these ancestors
4
00:00:51,723 --> 00:00:55,323
decided to leave and headed north
5
00:00:55,923 --> 00:00:59,123
to become the Neanderthals.
6
00:01:04,883 --> 00:01:07,003
Over time their numbers grew.
7
00:01:09,643 --> 00:01:15,243
Their territories stretching from Russia
to the Atlantic Coast.
8
00:01:21,203 --> 00:01:25,523
{\an8}Small clans roaming
across this vast wilderness.
9
00:01:30,323 --> 00:01:36,083
Surviving against the odds
for over 300,000 years
10
00:01:36,843 --> 00:01:38,243
until, suddenly,
11
00:01:39,403 --> 00:01:40,523
they disappeared.
12
00:01:45,363 --> 00:01:49,243
{\an8}Only in a few places,
have their remains survived,
13
00:01:50,043 --> 00:01:52,163
and one of the most significant
14
00:01:53,043 --> 00:01:55,003
is found in the Middle East,
15
00:01:55,523 --> 00:01:58,083
an archaeological treasure trove
16
00:01:58,083 --> 00:02:01,123
{\an8}hidden deep in the mountains of Kurdistan,
17
00:02:02,043 --> 00:02:04,003
{\an8}Shanidar Cave.
18
00:02:09,403 --> 00:02:11,123
The Shanidar Cave
19
00:02:11,123 --> 00:02:16,843
is regarded as one
of the most revered caves in the world
20
00:02:17,803 --> 00:02:20,883
during the time of the Neanderthals
and Homo Sapiens.
21
00:02:21,683 --> 00:02:27,683
In a place where life
has been ever present,
22
00:02:27,683 --> 00:02:30,683
we might find answers to questions.
23
00:02:31,683 --> 00:02:34,283
Questions that are still mysterious.
24
00:02:37,363 --> 00:02:39,843
Who were the Neanderthals?
25
00:02:41,203 --> 00:02:44,643
What made them so successful for so long?
26
00:02:45,843 --> 00:02:50,283
And why, ultimately, did they disappear?
27
00:03:19,723 --> 00:03:22,723
The Shanidar Cave's
in the foothills of the Bradost Mountains,
28
00:03:22,723 --> 00:03:26,283
but to call them foothills
doesn't conjure up the right image.
29
00:03:28,563 --> 00:03:32,723
It feels mountainous.
It's quite jagged and precipitous.
30
00:03:35,203 --> 00:03:39,683
Shanidar Cave makes an impression
just because of its size and its scale.
31
00:03:42,323 --> 00:03:46,523
You have to approach from below,
and it's incredibly impressive.
32
00:03:50,283 --> 00:03:51,843
It's very large.
33
00:03:51,843 --> 00:03:55,443
It has a very wide mouth,
so it's very light.
34
00:03:57,483 --> 00:04:01,043
You have the swifts
kind of flying in overhead,
35
00:04:01,043 --> 00:04:04,283
and eagles circling above,
and wolves howling at night.
36
00:04:04,283 --> 00:04:06,803
It's an amazing place.
37
00:04:08,843 --> 00:04:13,843
{\an8}And to actually be the person
who's excavating that as well
38
00:04:13,843 --> 00:04:16,243
{\an8}is extremely extraordinary.
39
00:04:17,803 --> 00:04:21,203
Emma is part of a team
of British archaeologists
40
00:04:21,203 --> 00:04:25,723
invited by their Kurdish colleagues
to continue work in the cave.
41
00:04:27,683 --> 00:04:32,443
Shanidar Cave is hugely iconic
in the history of Neanderthal studies,
42
00:04:33,243 --> 00:04:37,243
and played
a really pivotal role in us rethinking
43
00:04:37,243 --> 00:04:39,363
what we assumed Neanderthals did,
44
00:04:39,363 --> 00:04:42,043
and what they were like,
and what they were capable of.
45
00:04:44,003 --> 00:04:47,883
The aim of the new project is to use
46
00:04:47,883 --> 00:04:51,803
the whole range of archaeological science
now available to us,
47
00:04:51,803 --> 00:04:55,283
to shed new light on Neanderthal behavior.
48
00:04:57,363 --> 00:05:02,123
The trench
has not been excavated since the 1960s.
49
00:05:02,643 --> 00:05:04,003
And since that time,
50
00:05:04,003 --> 00:05:10,163
the way we think about our closest
human relatives has shifted considerably.
51
00:05:11,643 --> 00:05:14,763
We still use the word
Neanderthal to describe somebody
52
00:05:14,763 --> 00:05:16,603
that's kind of oafish, whatever.
53
00:05:16,603 --> 00:05:19,843
It's still used as a term of abuse
in common parlance,
54
00:05:19,843 --> 00:05:21,723
"He's a real Neanderthal."
55
00:05:21,723 --> 00:05:27,203
Archaeologically, they are more
and more similar to Homo Sapiens,
56
00:05:27,203 --> 00:05:32,683
{\an8}and much of that rethinking owes
its origins to the work
57
00:05:32,683 --> 00:05:36,123
{\an8}that Ralph Solecki did here
in Shanidar Cave.
58
00:05:42,963 --> 00:05:46,363
{\an8}Ralph Solecki was born in 1917.
59
00:05:46,363 --> 00:05:48,843
He died a few years ago at a great age.
60
00:05:49,403 --> 00:05:51,243
He was incredibly tough.
61
00:05:53,363 --> 00:05:56,203
He stood on a land mine
in the Second World War,
62
00:05:56,203 --> 00:05:58,283
and, miraculously, survived.
63
00:06:00,883 --> 00:06:04,203
He was clearly a very remarkable man.
64
00:06:05,843 --> 00:06:09,123
It's not clear to me precisely
how he heard of Shanidar,
65
00:06:10,163 --> 00:06:17,163
{\an8}but he came here, and he worked here
for five seasons between 1951 and 1960.
66
00:06:23,243 --> 00:06:24,923
He laid out a trench
67
00:06:24,923 --> 00:06:28,763
that went north-south
covering most of the floor of the cave.
68
00:06:35,483 --> 00:06:38,203
Why the site became so well-known
69
00:06:38,203 --> 00:06:43,003
is he found ten Neanderthal men,
women, and children.
70
00:06:59,083 --> 00:07:00,843
At that time,
71
00:07:01,803 --> 00:07:03,803
we were young.
72
00:07:07,363 --> 00:07:09,683
I was approximately...
73
00:07:11,123 --> 00:07:12,923
seventeen, eighteen years old.
74
00:07:16,843 --> 00:07:18,843
The doctor taught us.
75
00:07:21,443 --> 00:07:24,363
Many stones came out of the cave,
large stones.
76
00:07:25,083 --> 00:07:26,523
They used explosives.
77
00:07:35,403 --> 00:07:39,603
They found the Neanderthal skeletons.
It was a big deal.
78
00:07:42,963 --> 00:07:46,803
Their ribs and bones were thick.
79
00:07:47,483 --> 00:07:49,803
Their head was very large.
80
00:07:53,203 --> 00:07:54,043
Their hands,
81
00:07:55,643 --> 00:07:57,803
everything about them was striking.
82
00:07:59,243 --> 00:08:03,043
This was Solecki's
first major discovery.
83
00:08:03,763 --> 00:08:06,363
He labelled it Shanidar 1.
84
00:08:07,283 --> 00:08:11,363
A skeleton from a species
very different to our own.
85
00:08:15,923 --> 00:08:19,043
They've got
rather more robust features.
86
00:08:19,043 --> 00:08:21,963
Big brow ridges
and a rather differently shaped skull,
87
00:08:21,963 --> 00:08:23,723
and we have this very rounded skull.
88
00:08:23,723 --> 00:08:25,283
They're stocky.
89
00:08:26,443 --> 00:08:30,323
We assume
they must have some kind of language.
90
00:08:32,283 --> 00:08:34,003
The more we know about them,
91
00:08:34,003 --> 00:08:37,043
the more it's clear
that they were much more complicated
92
00:08:37,043 --> 00:08:40,043
than we thought 40, 50 years ago.
93
00:08:44,723 --> 00:08:47,403
We call it
the tree of life.
94
00:08:48,283 --> 00:08:50,003
Each human and each animal
95
00:08:50,963 --> 00:08:54,123
becomes a branch on that tree of life.
96
00:08:59,003 --> 00:09:03,843
We are one of the branches,
and the Neanderthals were another.
97
00:09:06,123 --> 00:09:08,683
Somewhere along the line, we separated.
98
00:09:10,523 --> 00:09:12,923
I truly feel
99
00:09:13,483 --> 00:09:18,003
that I am sitting on my cousin's remains.
100
00:09:24,763 --> 00:09:27,563
At the moment,
we are about 4.5 meters
101
00:09:27,563 --> 00:09:29,203
from the surface of the cave.
102
00:09:29,883 --> 00:09:32,643
So this is about 45,000 years ago.
103
00:09:33,323 --> 00:09:35,883
This is the level at which we have
104
00:09:35,883 --> 00:09:38,723
the burial or deposition of Shanidar 1.
105
00:09:50,963 --> 00:09:54,123
He'd had an injury
to the right side of his head.
106
00:09:58,843 --> 00:10:00,643
But also to the left eye,
107
00:10:00,643 --> 00:10:03,283
which might well have left him
blind in that eye,
108
00:10:03,283 --> 00:10:06,163
and might be linked
to some of his other injuries.
109
00:10:18,803 --> 00:10:21,563
He was also paralyzed
down his right arm,
110
00:10:24,643 --> 00:10:29,523
and had both broken
his right arm in more than one place,
111
00:10:29,523 --> 00:10:30,723
but also, it seems,
112
00:10:30,723 --> 00:10:34,603
that either had the lower part
intentionally or accidentally removed,
113
00:10:34,603 --> 00:10:38,163
so, basically, had no right arm
from just above the elbow.
114
00:10:40,763 --> 00:10:45,083
There were also other injuries.
He had quite severe arthritis in his knee.
115
00:10:49,963 --> 00:10:52,283
Fractures to bones in his foot.
116
00:10:54,843 --> 00:10:57,563
So perhaps in terms of, say, hunting,
117
00:10:57,563 --> 00:11:00,923
he might have not been able to hunt
in the typical way,
118
00:11:00,923 --> 00:11:03,603
but had survived to a relatively old age.
119
00:11:12,443 --> 00:11:15,803
The implication
of the new find was profound.
120
00:11:20,563 --> 00:11:24,043
The discovery of Shanidar 1
was potentially a huge shift
121
00:11:24,043 --> 00:11:25,883
because it did suggest that, perhaps,
122
00:11:25,883 --> 00:11:30,243
there was this element of caring
and compassion in Neanderthal society.
123
00:11:32,563 --> 00:11:36,523
Here was evidence
of a severely injured individual
124
00:11:36,523 --> 00:11:39,363
being supported by their clan.
125
00:11:47,043 --> 00:11:50,283
And soon,
Solecki unearthed another body
126
00:11:50,283 --> 00:11:53,643
with an equally remarkable story to tell.
127
00:12:06,123 --> 00:12:09,523
Shanidar 3 was another adult male,
128
00:12:10,443 --> 00:12:12,643
and he too, carried injuries,
129
00:12:12,643 --> 00:12:16,843
including what looked like
a serious wound to his ribs.
130
00:12:17,963 --> 00:12:22,123
A stark reminder
of the violent side of Neolithic life.
131
00:12:35,523 --> 00:12:40,443
Remarkably, elsewhere in the cave,
more relics have been found
132
00:12:40,443 --> 00:12:43,723
that offer a clue to Shanidar 3's fate.
133
00:12:44,883 --> 00:12:48,163
{\an8}These are some of the artifacts
recovered from Shanidar Cave.
134
00:12:49,123 --> 00:12:53,323
So, this larger piece is what we call
a "core." Now, a core is a cobble.
135
00:12:53,323 --> 00:12:56,763
Cobbles are, basically, rounded stones
that could be from the river.
136
00:12:56,763 --> 00:13:00,123
Neanderthal picked this up
with the intention of taking off pieces,
137
00:13:00,123 --> 00:13:04,163
either for this to become a tool itself,
or for the pieces that come off,
138
00:13:04,163 --> 00:13:06,883
which we call "flakes,"
to be used as a tool.
139
00:13:06,883 --> 00:13:10,523
All readily available in the Zab River,
which is about two miles that way.
140
00:13:20,723 --> 00:13:24,043
So, I'm attempting
to make something similar to a spearhead.
141
00:13:25,003 --> 00:13:26,683
What I basically do is
142
00:13:27,923 --> 00:13:29,363
go along the edge
143
00:13:30,843 --> 00:13:33,083
and take off smaller pieces.
144
00:13:33,083 --> 00:13:35,843
By doing that,
I'm essentially sharpening it.
145
00:13:39,923 --> 00:13:41,963
I've not removed that much,
146
00:13:41,963 --> 00:13:45,003
but already we can see
that it is quite sharp.
147
00:13:46,483 --> 00:13:48,243
So a spear point like that,
148
00:13:48,243 --> 00:13:51,443
has only taken me
about five or six minutes to produce.
149
00:13:52,483 --> 00:13:54,883
This is a very deadly weapon
used in the right hands,
150
00:13:54,883 --> 00:13:57,083
and someone who understands
what they're doing,
151
00:13:57,083 --> 00:13:58,483
and what they're holding.
152
00:14:21,963 --> 00:14:24,923
One of the interesting things
with Shanidar 3
153
00:14:24,923 --> 00:14:27,123
is that they had a puncture wound.
154
00:14:30,803 --> 00:14:36,123
That suggests that this stone tip
to a spear, or whatever it was,
155
00:14:36,123 --> 00:14:38,603
went in some distance into the rib cage.
156
00:14:38,603 --> 00:14:42,683
It might well have punctured the lung
and caused a collapsed lung.
157
00:15:14,363 --> 00:15:17,483
The wound to the ribs
is consistent with a projectile.
158
00:15:21,563 --> 00:15:24,203
You can imagine
sort of a spear being thrown.
159
00:15:33,803 --> 00:15:35,683
It could be a hunting accident.
160
00:15:37,083 --> 00:15:39,723
It could be violence between people.
161
00:15:44,323 --> 00:15:46,963
But what we can say is
that they did have this wound,
162
00:15:46,963 --> 00:15:49,283
and that they had survived for some time.
163
00:15:50,523 --> 00:15:53,683
And so that might suggest
that they had some support
164
00:15:53,683 --> 00:15:56,043
and help to make it through the injury.
165
00:16:03,403 --> 00:16:08,963
Though severely injured,
it appears both Shanidar 3 and Shanidar 1
166
00:16:08,963 --> 00:16:11,883
had been cared for
by the people around them.
167
00:16:17,083 --> 00:16:21,003
This was a radical new view
of Neanderthal life.
168
00:16:22,923 --> 00:16:24,243
And elsewhere,
169
00:16:24,243 --> 00:16:27,843
more evidence of their behavior
had been found in a cave
170
00:16:27,843 --> 00:16:30,683
far to the northwest of Shanidar.
171
00:16:42,203 --> 00:16:45,443
Every new evidence,
that you have about Neanderthals,
172
00:16:46,603 --> 00:16:49,963
is actually showing you
how human they are.
173
00:16:56,243 --> 00:16:59,403
But their behavior
was different from ours.
174
00:17:02,523 --> 00:17:05,803
They lived in a completely
different world to our world.
175
00:17:21,923 --> 00:17:24,803
This is part of the Krapina Collection.
176
00:17:27,563 --> 00:17:31,403
They are around 130,000 years old,
177
00:17:31,403 --> 00:17:36,083
and they are the biggest collection
of Neanderthals coming from a single site.
178
00:17:40,443 --> 00:17:46,403
We are estimating possibly up
to around 80 individual Neanderthals.
179
00:17:47,883 --> 00:17:50,203
You don't have their whole bodies buried.
180
00:17:50,203 --> 00:17:54,923
You actually have just fragments
of each of those individuals.
181
00:17:54,923 --> 00:17:56,803
So that is very unusual.
182
00:18:06,683 --> 00:18:12,083
On the Krapina bones, both cranial,
so skull bones, and also postcranial,
183
00:18:12,083 --> 00:18:16,483
you see a lot of, uh,
human-made cut marks.
184
00:18:23,603 --> 00:18:27,683
What this is is a tibia,
and there is a possibility
185
00:18:27,683 --> 00:18:30,963
that it was broken on purpose,
that it was smashed.
186
00:18:32,923 --> 00:18:38,043
You can also see cut marks here
and even some other marks.
187
00:18:39,283 --> 00:18:43,963
One of the reasons
you would maybe smash a long bone
188
00:18:43,963 --> 00:18:48,523
is because it's like a container
of bone marrow.
189
00:18:52,163 --> 00:18:58,443
This is a fibula that has
another interesting kind of marking
190
00:18:58,443 --> 00:19:00,123
on the surface of the bone.
191
00:19:01,283 --> 00:19:04,643
They were probably made
when someone was scraping off
192
00:19:04,643 --> 00:19:10,083
the remaining flesh of the bone
or remaining muscle tissue of the bone.
193
00:19:10,083 --> 00:19:11,203
As you would do
194
00:19:11,203 --> 00:19:16,203
when you were just like doing the same
with your chicken bone at your lunch.
195
00:19:28,083 --> 00:19:30,163
When you hear
they were eating each other,
196
00:19:30,963 --> 00:19:33,083
you're immediately, like, shocked.
197
00:19:38,203 --> 00:19:42,403
But it's also the question,
"What kind of cannibalism?"
198
00:19:43,603 --> 00:19:45,123
What did it mean to them?
199
00:20:03,203 --> 00:20:06,923
Look at this,
it cuts like a real kitchen knife.
200
00:20:08,843 --> 00:20:11,163
It's almost effortless.
Yes, so easy.
201
00:20:16,203 --> 00:20:22,163
Recreating the tools,
the ways to do stuff,
202
00:20:22,163 --> 00:20:25,643
we are trying to go into the head
of those people,
203
00:20:25,643 --> 00:20:29,963
and, you know, see the cognitive processes
that go behind.
204
00:20:30,843 --> 00:20:34,083
So, what is different is
that we're just getting cut marks
205
00:20:34,083 --> 00:20:36,963
close to the articulation sites.
206
00:20:36,963 --> 00:20:40,443
And what is weird
in the human remains in Krapina is
207
00:20:40,443 --> 00:20:44,003
that you are getting it
all along the long bones.
208
00:20:44,003 --> 00:20:47,203
So as if someone
is actually scraping it continuously.
209
00:20:47,203 --> 00:20:48,123
Yes.
210
00:20:49,443 --> 00:20:54,283
I cannot imagine, like,
doing this to someone I actually know.
211
00:21:00,403 --> 00:21:04,563
So, this is the famous Krapina 3 skull.
212
00:21:05,603 --> 00:21:11,483
It is the most complete cranial specimen
213
00:21:11,483 --> 00:21:16,203
in the whole collection,
and it's the only one that has a face.
214
00:21:21,243 --> 00:21:24,083
This person, we believe, was a female.
215
00:21:24,083 --> 00:21:27,283
A young Neanderthal in her 20s.
216
00:21:29,003 --> 00:21:31,723
What is very interesting
is that on the frontal bone,
217
00:21:31,723 --> 00:21:36,683
you have a series
of something like 40 cut marks.
218
00:21:40,403 --> 00:21:43,043
There is determination
219
00:21:43,043 --> 00:21:47,843
to do 40 cut marks
slowly and very close together.
220
00:21:49,003 --> 00:21:51,363
Even if they were consuming these bones,
221
00:21:51,363 --> 00:21:54,963
I don't think it was
because they were starving.
222
00:21:57,683 --> 00:22:00,643
It's actually deeply complex behavior.
223
00:22:09,883 --> 00:22:14,603
Maybe by consuming the flesh
of the person they knew,
224
00:22:15,483 --> 00:22:20,923
they want to get some kind of virtue,
something that they admired in this person
225
00:22:20,923 --> 00:22:23,843
that they shared their lives with.
226
00:22:26,763 --> 00:22:29,443
In the ethnographic examples
that we know of,
227
00:22:29,963 --> 00:22:33,683
until recently, people consumed
their loved ones
228
00:22:33,683 --> 00:22:38,683
because by consuming their flesh,
they're trying to take in something
229
00:22:38,683 --> 00:22:43,723
that can continue on to other generations,
you know, it's some kind of legacy.
230
00:22:47,603 --> 00:22:51,083
I cannot say that this was exactly
what was the driving force
231
00:22:51,083 --> 00:22:53,883
behind this kind
of behavior in Neanderthals,
232
00:22:53,883 --> 00:22:55,563
but it's another possibility.
233
00:23:01,803 --> 00:23:04,523
The way Neanderthals
treated their dead
234
00:23:04,523 --> 00:23:07,603
shows us the complexity of their thinking.
235
00:23:13,123 --> 00:23:15,603
And nowhere is this better understood
236
00:23:15,603 --> 00:23:19,043
than in Ralph Solecki's
most famous discovery,
237
00:23:20,003 --> 00:23:25,843
Shanidar 4, or what became known
as "The Flower Burial."
238
00:23:30,203 --> 00:23:32,003
Now in this cave,
239
00:23:33,523 --> 00:23:37,003
we have found nine Neanderthals,
240
00:23:37,003 --> 00:23:39,723
of which two are most important.
241
00:23:39,723 --> 00:23:44,163
{\an8}Number 1 found over there,
at the depth of about five meters,
242
00:23:44,163 --> 00:23:49,803
{\an8}and one here, Shanidar 4,
found at a depth of about seven meters.
243
00:23:50,883 --> 00:23:54,483
{\an8}Ralph Solecki was one
of the world's great archaeologists.
244
00:23:54,483 --> 00:23:57,243
{\an8}There's no doubt at all,
and he was a great storyteller.
245
00:23:57,243 --> 00:24:03,883
This seems to indicate, perhaps,
the first signs of spiritual evolution
246
00:24:04,403 --> 00:24:07,323
and maybe the first stirrings of religion.
247
00:24:17,923 --> 00:24:22,763
The flower burial was one
of these seminal moments,
248
00:24:22,763 --> 00:24:25,843
{\an8}because it was pretty well
a complete Neanderthal,
249
00:24:25,843 --> 00:24:28,403
{\an8}which was an incredible rarity.
250
00:24:30,323 --> 00:24:33,563
And it was sampled for pollen,
251
00:24:33,563 --> 00:24:36,843
which at the time,
was quite a radical thing to do.
252
00:24:36,843 --> 00:24:41,043
We had found pollen
extracted from the soil,
253
00:24:41,043 --> 00:24:42,603
something like this,
254
00:24:43,243 --> 00:24:47,443
and this pollen
indicates the eight types of flowers,
255
00:24:47,443 --> 00:24:50,603
which we think
were interred with the individual.
256
00:24:54,283 --> 00:24:56,003
He doesn't quite go
as far as saying,
257
00:24:56,003 --> 00:24:57,643
"They conducted a funeral service,"
258
00:24:57,643 --> 00:25:00,883
but that's sort of the way
that the prose takes you.
259
00:25:02,803 --> 00:25:05,483
"Someone
in the last ice age
260
00:25:05,483 --> 00:25:06,963
{\an8}had ranged the mountains
261
00:25:06,963 --> 00:25:09,883
{\an8}in the mournful task
of collecting flowers."
262
00:25:14,443 --> 00:25:17,283
The public perception
of the Neanderthals
263
00:25:17,283 --> 00:25:19,523
always was that they lived ugly lives.
264
00:25:19,523 --> 00:25:22,963
They were ugly people.
They had no finer feelings.
265
00:25:22,963 --> 00:25:24,883
They had no higher thought.
266
00:25:29,203 --> 00:25:32,723
And here were
sensitive caring individuals.
267
00:25:36,963 --> 00:25:38,923
And it made every front page,
268
00:25:40,203 --> 00:25:43,803
because here you have
weeping Neanderthals gathering plants,
269
00:25:43,803 --> 00:25:47,683
from the hillside around,
to honor their dead.
270
00:25:58,963 --> 00:26:01,403
Here were
the first "Flower People,"
271
00:26:02,003 --> 00:26:05,923
a discovery wholly unprecedented
in archaeology.
272
00:26:44,643 --> 00:26:48,323
In the years
since the discovery of Shanidar 4,
273
00:26:49,443 --> 00:26:53,083
the Flower Burial theory
has come under fire.
274
00:27:01,163 --> 00:27:03,283
Somebody who's studying jirds,
275
00:27:03,283 --> 00:27:07,483
which are little burrowing mammals,
a little bit like a hamster with a tail,
276
00:27:08,163 --> 00:27:12,763
found that the jirds took
flowers into their burrows to eat them.
277
00:27:16,163 --> 00:27:18,883
So, that was quite
a body blow in many ways,
278
00:27:18,883 --> 00:27:23,883
particularly because Solecki had noticed
what appeared to be animal burrows.
279
00:27:27,843 --> 00:27:30,603
But the team have
new evidence that suggests
280
00:27:30,603 --> 00:27:33,763
Solecki was partly right after all.
281
00:27:35,083 --> 00:27:38,163
This is a landscape which has
things like hyenas and wolves in it,
282
00:27:38,163 --> 00:27:40,883
and leopards, even today.
283
00:27:40,883 --> 00:27:42,723
If they just left a body,
284
00:27:42,723 --> 00:27:46,083
almost certainly, something
would have come along and eaten it.
285
00:28:00,323 --> 00:28:03,523
These are
basically whole individuals
286
00:28:03,523 --> 00:28:05,443
that haven't had that done to them.
287
00:28:07,923 --> 00:28:10,763
In some way, these bodies were protected.
288
00:28:16,683 --> 00:28:22,883
My guesstimate is that,
probably, they were taking branches
289
00:28:24,283 --> 00:28:29,563
and producing a fairly
unpleasant barrier for wild animals.
290
00:28:32,363 --> 00:28:39,283
And bits of that vegetation and pollen
fell into the corpse's rib cage
291
00:28:39,283 --> 00:28:40,883
as it became a skeleton.
292
00:28:44,403 --> 00:28:49,083
The Solecki story, I think,
is a wonderful story.
293
00:28:52,003 --> 00:28:55,603
I think there's enough detail
now in our understanding
294
00:28:55,603 --> 00:28:58,123
to know that it isn't a correct story,
295
00:28:59,283 --> 00:29:00,483
by any means.
296
00:29:08,643 --> 00:29:15,163
But I think the idea of Neanderthals
caring for their dead,
297
00:29:15,163 --> 00:29:17,603
of perhaps protecting them...
298
00:29:21,563 --> 00:29:24,243
actually, that isn't that far,
299
00:29:25,003 --> 00:29:28,443
in some ways, from what he said.
300
00:29:33,563 --> 00:29:38,723
Ralph Solecki made
his Flower Burial discovery in 1960.
301
00:29:40,603 --> 00:29:42,963
He planned to return the following year,
302
00:29:43,683 --> 00:29:47,403
but he would never excavate
at Shanidar again.
303
00:29:56,083 --> 00:29:59,003
The Kurds are
undisputed masters of the mountains,
304
00:29:59,003 --> 00:30:01,563
where the Iraqi tanks can't reach them.
305
00:30:04,083 --> 00:30:07,723
This is not
the United States against Iraq.
306
00:30:08,403 --> 00:30:09,843
Boom! There's a hit.
307
00:30:09,843 --> 00:30:12,003
It's Iraq
against the world.
308
00:30:19,563 --> 00:30:22,363
This is what regime
change looks like.
309
00:30:25,283 --> 00:30:26,803
Saddam has gone.
310
00:30:28,883 --> 00:30:30,723
Pummeled
by modern weaponry,
311
00:30:30,723 --> 00:30:34,683
the cruel caliphate is now surrounded
by these troops.
312
00:30:40,203 --> 00:30:41,963
In the early 2010s,
313
00:30:41,963 --> 00:30:46,043
because the situation
had substantially settled down...
314
00:30:46,043 --> 00:30:49,443
The Islamic State
is meeting its end.
315
00:30:49,443 --> 00:30:53,523
...the Kurdish regional government
approached Professor Graeme Barker
316
00:30:53,523 --> 00:30:56,963
to start new excavations at Shanidar Cave.
317
00:30:59,083 --> 00:31:01,803
We weren't expecting to find
any Neanderthal remains,
318
00:31:01,803 --> 00:31:06,003
and that wasn't the aim of the project,
it was to, kind of, enhance the work
319
00:31:06,003 --> 00:31:07,403
that Solecki had done.
320
00:31:09,843 --> 00:31:12,643
So, it came as a huge surprise
321
00:31:12,643 --> 00:31:18,243
when, in 2018, the team discovered
the first Neanderthal skeleton
322
00:31:18,243 --> 00:31:22,043
found anywhere
for over a quarter of a century.
323
00:31:24,963 --> 00:31:27,803
The first thing that really came up
was part of the skull,
324
00:31:27,803 --> 00:31:32,043
which was incredibly exciting.
It was actually part of the eye socket.
325
00:31:34,843 --> 00:31:39,283
And it has
very clear Neanderthal characteristics,
326
00:31:39,283 --> 00:31:42,243
in that the brow ridge
in Neanderthals are much heavier.
327
00:31:45,843 --> 00:31:48,683
And directly under that, was the left arm,
328
00:31:50,003 --> 00:31:52,883
and the left arm was kind
of folded underneath,
329
00:31:52,883 --> 00:31:56,243
sort of across the body,
and tucked under the head.
330
00:31:59,163 --> 00:32:01,283
Modern dating placed it
331
00:32:01,283 --> 00:32:04,483
amongst the oldest
of Solecki's discoveries.
332
00:32:10,123 --> 00:32:16,083
I think we find 75,000 years ago
quite hard to conceptualize.
333
00:32:17,163 --> 00:32:19,523
If you think about
what we know about written history
334
00:32:19,523 --> 00:32:20,923
can seem like a long time,
335
00:32:20,923 --> 00:32:24,683
and that's a drop in the ocean
in terms of the history of our species.
336
00:32:34,083 --> 00:32:38,163
When you think what's gone on
in the world in that time period,
337
00:32:38,163 --> 00:32:40,243
Neanderthals have disappeared,
338
00:32:40,243 --> 00:32:43,123
modern humans have colonized
the globe for good or ill.
339
00:32:44,523 --> 00:32:48,443
Agriculture, cities, urbanism.
European colonialism.
340
00:32:50,723 --> 00:32:53,243
The awfulness
of the 20th century.
341
00:33:12,723 --> 00:33:14,603
Throughout all these events,
342
00:33:16,723 --> 00:33:18,043
there he has sat...
343
00:33:23,283 --> 00:33:26,163
...or she, as flat as a pancake,
344
00:33:30,603 --> 00:33:32,523
under a great mass of rocks.
345
00:33:34,563 --> 00:33:38,243
And we come along,
against all odds, and find it.
346
00:33:50,763 --> 00:33:53,123
It's certainly
a generational find.
347
00:33:53,123 --> 00:33:54,683
Completely out of the blue.
348
00:34:00,603 --> 00:34:02,803
The skull itself was very heavily crushed.
349
00:34:02,803 --> 00:34:05,923
So, actually, the entire skull
was crushed flat
350
00:34:05,923 --> 00:34:08,243
and was probably two,
three centimeters thick.
351
00:34:12,923 --> 00:34:14,363
Very fragmented.
352
00:34:15,963 --> 00:34:17,203
And very delicate.
353
00:34:21,443 --> 00:34:27,123
Even a brush stroke can make things
crumble and almost disappear.
354
00:34:27,123 --> 00:34:29,563
So you have to proceed so carefully.
355
00:34:29,563 --> 00:34:31,003
What is that piece?
356
00:34:31,003 --> 00:34:33,323
That's the front of the mandible,
357
00:34:34,083 --> 00:34:37,963
and most of the lower teeth,
but not quite all of them.
358
00:34:37,963 --> 00:34:41,243
We removed it in small sections
with all of the sediment
359
00:34:41,243 --> 00:34:42,803
to help keep it together.
360
00:34:45,243 --> 00:34:48,283
It is very painstaking,
and that's for good reason.
361
00:34:48,283 --> 00:34:49,723
You get one go.
362
00:34:50,443 --> 00:34:53,283
Archaeology is,
by its very nature, destructive.
363
00:34:53,923 --> 00:34:55,483
Once you've excavated it,
364
00:34:56,243 --> 00:34:57,603
you can't do it again.
365
00:35:02,963 --> 00:35:06,523
Those little packages
were then all brought back to the UK,
366
00:35:07,283 --> 00:35:09,443
so that we can put them back together.
367
00:35:26,723 --> 00:35:29,283
We have a small team,
but it's a great team.
368
00:35:29,803 --> 00:35:31,563
People come from all over the world.
369
00:35:35,163 --> 00:35:37,603
After cleaning
and strengthening the bones,
370
00:35:37,603 --> 00:35:39,323
then I had the pieces,
371
00:35:39,323 --> 00:35:43,843
and I could start to do the restoration,
which is a big jigsaw.
372
00:35:48,603 --> 00:35:51,803
So, the first fragment
is like the easy part.
373
00:35:54,083 --> 00:35:56,283
And then it gets more complicated.
374
00:36:01,243 --> 00:36:02,763
You need patience,
375
00:36:05,723 --> 00:36:09,803
because you have
a very unique specimen in your hands.
376
00:36:12,203 --> 00:36:14,403
It's a lot of responsibility.
377
00:36:16,203 --> 00:36:18,243
If the skull can be reassembled,
378
00:36:19,003 --> 00:36:23,003
then the team hope
to reconstruct the face of Shanidar Z.
379
00:36:25,523 --> 00:36:29,483
And another part of the skull
contains yet more clues.
380
00:36:31,763 --> 00:36:34,083
Today I've been collecting
the dental calculus
381
00:36:34,083 --> 00:36:37,683
that has formed on the teeth
of the Shanidar Z individual.
382
00:36:45,883 --> 00:36:49,803
Dental calculus is
an incrustation on your teeth.
383
00:36:49,803 --> 00:36:53,003
{\an8}It's what your dentist goes
to remove once a year.
384
00:36:55,403 --> 00:36:57,803
It forms naturally in your mouth,
385
00:36:57,803 --> 00:37:02,043
and as it forms, it traps everything
that ends up in your mouth.
386
00:37:03,283 --> 00:37:06,923
So, we're able to get a lot
of information out of this material.
387
00:37:31,603 --> 00:37:34,603
There is sort
of this persistent narrative
388
00:37:34,603 --> 00:37:38,923
that Neanderthals were high-level hunters,
389
00:37:38,923 --> 00:37:41,883
who ate meat, meat, with meat on the side.
390
00:37:48,403 --> 00:37:54,243
It's only been in the last 10
to 20 years that we've come to recognize
391
00:37:54,243 --> 00:37:58,003
that Neanderthals
did actually also consume plants.
392
00:38:10,443 --> 00:38:13,363
Knowing how to turn something
that is poisonous when raw
393
00:38:13,363 --> 00:38:16,683
into something
that is nutritious and edible,
394
00:38:17,643 --> 00:38:20,563
it is something
that you have to learn over a lifetime.
395
00:38:24,563 --> 00:38:30,843
And if we take
modern foragers as our example,
396
00:38:30,843 --> 00:38:33,523
then the people who specialized
in gathering knowledge
397
00:38:33,523 --> 00:38:34,883
were probably women.
398
00:38:42,483 --> 00:38:47,243
By reconstructing
what kinds of plants Neanderthals ate,
399
00:38:51,763 --> 00:38:57,403
we might be getting a window
into the role of women in their society.
400
00:39:03,603 --> 00:39:06,643
We'll never know their whole story,
we'll never know their name,
401
00:39:07,163 --> 00:39:08,643
their hopes and dreams.
402
00:39:11,923 --> 00:39:15,123
But it's fascinating
to be involved in a project
403
00:39:15,123 --> 00:39:20,043
where you're bringing even just
a tiny sliver of their life visible again.
404
00:39:28,523 --> 00:39:31,163
And you do wonder, "Who is this person?"
405
00:39:31,163 --> 00:39:34,083
"What were they like?
What's their life story?"
406
00:39:34,083 --> 00:39:36,043
"How did they come to be here?"
407
00:39:40,123 --> 00:39:42,883
I find it very hard to translate
408
00:39:42,883 --> 00:39:47,003
from what a skull looks like to what
that person would have looked like.
409
00:39:49,283 --> 00:39:51,283
That's where the remarkable skills
410
00:39:51,283 --> 00:39:53,563
of people
like the Kennis brothers come in.
411
00:40:04,843 --> 00:40:08,083
Here we have the skull that Emma,
the data Emma, sent us.
412
00:40:08,083 --> 00:40:11,883
We've got an almost complete skull,
nice complete skull, and it's printed out.
413
00:40:11,883 --> 00:40:14,123
- So now we can see him.
- Wow.
414
00:40:14,123 --> 00:40:16,603
{\an8}Who are the Kennis brothers?
415
00:40:16,603 --> 00:40:21,003
{\an8}The Kennis brothers are two twins
who are fascinated by human evolution.
416
00:40:21,003 --> 00:40:22,563
Let's see, look at this nose.
417
00:40:22,563 --> 00:40:25,763
It looks a very Neanderthal-like nose,
but what we see is
418
00:40:25,763 --> 00:40:28,523
that the other side of the nose
is very narrow.
419
00:40:28,523 --> 00:40:31,123
We reconstruct
ancient extinct humans.
420
00:40:31,123 --> 00:40:33,003
We try to show people
421
00:40:33,003 --> 00:40:37,443
how maybe the early ancestors
would look like in real life.
422
00:40:37,443 --> 00:40:40,523
- Big eyes, tall face, small nose.
- Big eye, yeah.
423
00:40:40,523 --> 00:40:46,203
You know, like... spectacles, you know,
these enormous, big spectacles like...
424
00:40:46,203 --> 00:40:50,123
If you put the mandible below it,
it looks like... uh...
425
00:40:50,123 --> 00:40:52,043
We were very bad at school.
426
00:40:52,043 --> 00:40:53,683
We didn't read much.
427
00:40:53,683 --> 00:40:57,403
We went to the library, and we saw
some beautiful pictures of Neanderthals.
428
00:40:59,283 --> 00:41:01,803
We see immediately those worn-down teeth,
mamma mia!
429
00:41:01,803 --> 00:41:04,083
Incredible teeth.
Typical Neanderthal.
430
00:41:04,083 --> 00:41:07,643
- They use their teeth like a vice. Yeah.
Vice. Like a tool.
431
00:41:07,643 --> 00:41:09,083
That, we find fascinating.
432
00:41:09,083 --> 00:41:13,603
How a face, an ape face,
could morph into a human face.
433
00:41:21,163 --> 00:41:23,603
For us, what's fascinating
about Neanderthals is,
434
00:41:23,603 --> 00:41:26,123
they've got an enormous, big nose,
435
00:41:27,243 --> 00:41:28,803
an enormous puffy face.
436
00:41:29,363 --> 00:41:34,043
Never in human evolution
did you see such a big, strange face.
437
00:41:34,923 --> 00:41:36,603
So that's fantastic to see.
438
00:41:45,963 --> 00:41:50,163
So, mostly we get skulls.
Mostly the skulls are distorted.
439
00:41:51,603 --> 00:41:53,443
We're gonna correct the skulls.
440
00:41:53,443 --> 00:41:57,203
We're going to make them
complete with forensic methods.
441
00:42:04,003 --> 00:42:07,963
When the skull is complete,
then we apply the tissue thickness,
442
00:42:09,163 --> 00:42:11,123
the muscles on it and the flesh.
443
00:42:14,043 --> 00:42:16,883
We fill it up with a kind of skin layer.
444
00:42:20,123 --> 00:42:22,203
{\an8}I want to make them human-like,
445
00:42:22,203 --> 00:42:25,683
{\an8}not too brutish, human-like,
but not too cliché.
446
00:42:42,883 --> 00:42:44,283
Yeah, you can come.
447
00:42:46,843 --> 00:42:49,283
I hope that a lot of people
look at this face
448
00:42:49,283 --> 00:42:52,043
and maybe look at how strange it is.
449
00:42:53,563 --> 00:42:56,283
They had such peculiar features.
450
00:42:57,683 --> 00:43:01,163
And that's so striking
because the brain size is same as us.
451
00:43:01,163 --> 00:43:04,403
They are as human as us,
but still there are differences,
452
00:43:04,403 --> 00:43:06,883
and that's fascinating,
why are they different?
453
00:43:09,163 --> 00:43:12,043
It's such a kind
of parallel evolution with us.
454
00:43:13,563 --> 00:43:15,563
All right.
Yeah, all right. Okay.
455
00:43:15,563 --> 00:43:18,923
And why did one disappear,
and why is one still alive?
456
00:43:18,923 --> 00:43:22,043
That's fascinating. That's the other us.
457
00:43:29,323 --> 00:43:32,403
Historically, these "other us"
458
00:43:32,403 --> 00:43:36,083
were thought to be
not as smart as our own species.
459
00:43:42,083 --> 00:43:48,723
Only Homo Sapiens are capable
of imagination, creativity, invention.
460
00:44:00,843 --> 00:44:03,043
But this prejudice has been shattered
461
00:44:03,043 --> 00:44:09,403
by what was found inside a secret
and truly extraordinary French cave.
462
00:44:22,603 --> 00:44:26,883
First, we go
into this very narrow space.
463
00:44:29,643 --> 00:44:33,243
You have to be really careful
how you enter in it.
464
00:44:33,243 --> 00:44:35,603
Push your bag in front of you.
465
00:44:56,443 --> 00:44:58,443
There you enter another world.
466
00:45:14,483 --> 00:45:17,843
It is really unnatural
to go into the caves.
467
00:45:23,483 --> 00:45:26,923
These are places that people fear.
468
00:45:35,403 --> 00:45:37,643
And especially
to the very bottom of the caves.
469
00:45:50,923 --> 00:45:54,163
{\an8}The cave has been there
for a very long time.
470
00:45:55,363 --> 00:45:57,323
A million years, probably.
471
00:45:58,123 --> 00:46:01,563
So that's also something that you feel
when you enter there.
472
00:46:02,083 --> 00:46:06,283
A kind of environment
that knew already a very long history.
473
00:46:10,443 --> 00:46:14,923
When you go a bit further,
you have these nice very calm lakes.
474
00:46:20,163 --> 00:46:22,403
The cave is shaped by water
475
00:46:23,163 --> 00:46:28,523
dripping in and forming
these very nice stalagmites, stalactites.
476
00:46:34,123 --> 00:46:36,283
What's really interesting...
477
00:46:37,683 --> 00:46:40,603
you see that
there is really a kind of pattern.
478
00:46:41,843 --> 00:46:43,883
These are forming circles.
479
00:46:55,043 --> 00:46:58,203
This is not something
you would see in a natural cave.
480
00:47:06,923 --> 00:47:08,843
It's very constructed.
481
00:47:11,843 --> 00:47:15,963
{\an8}We understood
that there were architectural tricks.
482
00:47:24,123 --> 00:47:28,683
Small elements to wedge
the large stalagmites.
483
00:47:32,003 --> 00:47:35,883
All of this is completely structured
and thought out.
484
00:47:46,523 --> 00:47:52,083
For an archaeologist, it's quite unique.
There is no other equivalent to it.
485
00:48:02,003 --> 00:48:04,763
In the biggest
circular structure there,
486
00:48:04,763 --> 00:48:09,203
we have really a very nice hearth
made by stalagmites.
487
00:48:12,243 --> 00:48:15,563
Here we have a thermal
alteration, but it's not the only one.
488
00:48:15,563 --> 00:48:17,723
We have quite a few...
489
00:48:17,723 --> 00:48:20,323
- Here we agree, that's the hearth.
- It's the hearth.
490
00:48:20,323 --> 00:48:21,723
It's the hearth.
491
00:48:24,763 --> 00:48:30,803
So we have several places here
where a fire was present at some point.
492
00:48:33,283 --> 00:48:34,283
Number 38,
493
00:48:34,283 --> 00:48:37,763
along the middle.
494
00:48:37,763 --> 00:48:40,603
It's a bit like
what we'd do when we camp,
495
00:48:40,603 --> 00:48:46,043
and we would take wood and make a hearth,
like, in a teepee form,
496
00:48:46,043 --> 00:48:47,963
like a point form.
497
00:48:47,963 --> 00:48:51,323
This is very exciting
because we can see traces of soot,
498
00:48:51,323 --> 00:48:53,483
thermal alterations.
499
00:48:53,483 --> 00:48:57,043
There is very black soot,
it's red, it's purple.
500
00:49:03,523 --> 00:49:07,803
Obviously, in all traditional
or prehistoric populations,
501
00:49:07,803 --> 00:49:10,243
we know that fire has a symbolic value.
502
00:49:32,523 --> 00:49:38,403
We find on the ground
very small pieces of burnt wood.
503
00:49:41,083 --> 00:49:44,803
So probably,
they come in the cave with torches.
504
00:49:50,323 --> 00:49:53,443
If you are in the middle of the cave
without light,
505
00:49:53,443 --> 00:49:54,883
it's really dangerous.
506
00:49:56,483 --> 00:49:58,883
So, you need to communicate very well.
507
00:50:10,963 --> 00:50:13,883
You need to master very well the fire,
508
00:50:18,523 --> 00:50:19,563
the lighting.
509
00:50:27,003 --> 00:50:30,803
So, the first idea was
to date these structures.
510
00:50:43,323 --> 00:50:46,123
So, these are the cores
of the Bruniquel Cave,
511
00:50:46,123 --> 00:50:51,243
and these cores tell us
really the age of these structures.
512
00:50:54,723 --> 00:50:57,203
By studying six different cores,
513
00:50:57,203 --> 00:51:02,643
we could come to a very precise age
of 176,500 years,
514
00:51:03,243 --> 00:51:06,683
and this was really incredible, in fact.
515
00:51:12,043 --> 00:51:14,643
One hundred
seventy-five thousand years ago in Europe,
516
00:51:14,643 --> 00:51:16,403
there were only Neanderthals.
517
00:51:18,123 --> 00:51:22,563
Bruniquel is the oldest construction
in the world that you can see.
518
00:51:31,483 --> 00:51:34,403
It's very emotional
when you see these structures,
519
00:51:34,403 --> 00:51:38,083
and, especially, when you know
that they are so old.
520
00:51:51,203 --> 00:51:55,163
The recurring question
that keeps coming back is,
521
00:51:55,163 --> 00:51:56,643
"What are the structures for?"
522
00:52:20,443 --> 00:52:23,763
The circle
seems to be the world.
523
00:52:23,763 --> 00:52:28,043
So, you are inside the world,
outside the world, these kind of concepts.
524
00:52:30,683 --> 00:52:35,123
With Native Americans,
where you have these circles,
525
00:52:35,123 --> 00:52:38,883
people are in connection
with higher spirits.
526
00:52:49,723 --> 00:52:51,963
Is it the start of the religion?
527
00:53:01,403 --> 00:53:05,763
This is a crucial question,
but which is really difficult to answer.
528
00:53:20,283 --> 00:53:25,483
So more and more,
we tend to see in Neanderthals
529
00:53:27,363 --> 00:53:30,243
a much older humanity,
530
00:53:32,643 --> 00:53:38,043
which shares with modern man
more and more things in common.
531
00:53:52,403 --> 00:53:54,283
And therefore with Bruniquel,
532
00:53:55,683 --> 00:54:02,683
we increased this relationship
we have with an ancestor who is very old.
533
00:54:11,923 --> 00:54:15,963
The enigmatic circles
at Bruniquel are a wonderful part
534
00:54:15,963 --> 00:54:19,963
of the ongoing reappraisal
of Neanderthal culture...
535
00:54:25,763 --> 00:54:28,163
that began at Shanidar,
536
00:54:28,803 --> 00:54:31,523
and which continues to this day.
537
00:54:44,843 --> 00:54:48,283
This year,
we found a few isolated bits
538
00:54:48,283 --> 00:54:51,203
of what we think
could be a single skeleton.
539
00:54:53,243 --> 00:54:55,283
We might have found another individual.
540
00:54:57,283 --> 00:54:59,883
There's the left shoulder blades.
541
00:55:00,883 --> 00:55:03,763
There's also a reasonably
complete right hand.
542
00:55:07,763 --> 00:55:10,323
What we've actually found is four fingers,
543
00:55:10,323 --> 00:55:13,123
more or less, in the place
they'd be in the body.
544
00:55:13,123 --> 00:55:15,043
So, what we'd call articulated.
545
00:55:15,643 --> 00:55:19,083
The new remains
are amongst a cluster of bodies
546
00:55:19,083 --> 00:55:23,923
that include
both Shanidar 4 and Shanidar Z.
547
00:55:26,443 --> 00:55:27,763
That's really exciting
548
00:55:27,763 --> 00:55:31,763
because what it is
is evidence of Neanderthals
549
00:55:31,763 --> 00:55:35,443
placing their dead
in this one particular spot.
550
00:55:39,203 --> 00:55:43,683
Are they perhaps coming back
to that same spot on multiple occasions,
551
00:55:43,683 --> 00:55:47,443
which could be decades
or maybe thousands of years apart?
552
00:55:48,843 --> 00:55:50,403
So you start to ask,
553
00:55:50,403 --> 00:55:56,443
"Is it just a coincidence, or is this
potentially something intentional?"
554
00:55:57,683 --> 00:56:01,283
And if so, then, why?
And what's bringing them back there?
555
00:56:10,043 --> 00:56:15,843
When Shanidar Z was buried,
there was a stone behind the skull.
556
00:56:18,443 --> 00:56:22,323
And that is interesting
because it seems rather out of place.
557
00:56:24,803 --> 00:56:28,003
And so an idea
we've been thinking about is,
558
00:56:28,003 --> 00:56:30,963
could this be something
that's been put there intentionally?
559
00:56:37,923 --> 00:56:39,843
Another thing that's interesting is that,
560
00:56:39,843 --> 00:56:43,243
on the other side of the body,
you've got the big vertical slab.
561
00:56:52,723 --> 00:56:56,123
Clearly, if you've got big vertical
slabs sticking up out of the ground,
562
00:56:56,123 --> 00:56:59,683
there is a possibility that
that could act as some kind of marker.
563
00:57:04,443 --> 00:57:07,523
So, it seems that certain individuals
were buried here,
564
00:57:07,523 --> 00:57:09,963
and they're coming back
for that very reason,
565
00:57:11,043 --> 00:57:14,363
and to this one spot, that's marked
by this very distinctive stone,
566
00:57:14,363 --> 00:57:16,523
in what is a very distinctive cave.
567
00:57:24,803 --> 00:57:27,643
It looks more
and more as Ralph Solecki
568
00:57:27,643 --> 00:57:32,683
first found that Shanidar Cave
was a special place for Neanderthals.
569
00:57:38,923 --> 00:57:41,323
They are placing bodies.
570
00:57:41,323 --> 00:57:42,763
They're in a world,
571
00:57:42,763 --> 00:57:46,563
in which they are coming back here
regularly and living here.
572
00:57:50,443 --> 00:57:53,163
The cluster of remains
are perhaps evidence
573
00:57:53,163 --> 00:57:55,603
of a Neanderthal burial ground,
574
00:57:56,483 --> 00:57:59,603
a discovery with deep implications.
575
00:58:02,123 --> 00:58:05,043
How people treat the dead
576
00:58:05,043 --> 00:58:11,163
can give us really important insights
into thinking, imagination, emotion.
577
00:58:13,803 --> 00:58:17,923
It perhaps also reflects
how we think about death itself,
578
00:58:18,883 --> 00:58:22,963
and whether, for example, we believe
that there might be an afterlife.
579
00:58:26,243 --> 00:58:32,523
It's part of a rising sense
of the complexity of Neanderthal culture.
580
00:58:34,123 --> 00:58:35,283
But they're not here now.
581
00:58:40,883 --> 00:58:45,483
The burials are just
the latest traces of Neanderthal behavior
582
00:58:45,483 --> 00:58:48,803
preserved inside this remarkable cave.
583
00:58:54,443 --> 00:58:59,123
Yet, perhaps, the biggest mystery remains.
584
00:59:04,443 --> 00:59:10,963
Why did a form of humanity,
that thrived for 300,000 years, disappear
585
00:59:12,363 --> 00:59:14,163
forty-thousand years ago?
586
00:59:20,803 --> 00:59:23,523
Perhaps the best place
to search for answers
587
00:59:23,523 --> 00:59:26,763
lies on the shores
of the Mediterranean Sea
588
00:59:26,763 --> 00:59:30,563
at one of the final strongholds
of the Neanderthals.
589
00:59:38,283 --> 00:59:40,803
Well, we're sitting
on the edge of a cliff.
590
00:59:42,763 --> 00:59:45,443
{\an8}Very close to, what a friend called,
Neanderthal City...
591
00:59:47,683 --> 00:59:50,963
because it's a whole row of caves
on the waterfront,
592
00:59:50,963 --> 00:59:52,963
on the east side of the Rock of Gibraltar.
593
00:59:58,083 --> 01:00:01,243
The Gorham's Cave complex
is a series of caves,
594
01:00:01,883 --> 01:00:04,643
and all these caves show
very clear evidence
595
01:00:04,643 --> 01:00:08,643
of Neanderthal presence
and occupation over a long period of time.
596
01:00:18,643 --> 01:00:23,203
We have evidence going back
to at least 125,000 years ago.
597
01:00:28,803 --> 01:00:30,883
The team have unearthed evidence
598
01:00:30,883 --> 01:00:36,723
that Neanderthals were using the caves
as recently as 40,000 years ago.
599
01:00:43,243 --> 01:00:46,243
Over the last 100,000 years
of their existence,
600
01:00:46,243 --> 01:00:49,483
the world of the Neanderthals
was constantly changing.
601
01:01:07,083 --> 01:01:09,243
The climatic changes were brutal.
602
01:01:09,243 --> 01:01:11,443
They had been earlier ice ages,
603
01:01:11,443 --> 01:01:15,163
but the last one, arguably,
was the worst one in terms of impact.
604
01:01:15,163 --> 01:01:17,803
The Scandinavian ice sheet
really spread south.
605
01:01:18,923 --> 01:01:22,163
France and Central Europe
were little more than steppe-tundra.
606
01:01:23,323 --> 01:01:25,283
It really was a very harsh world.
607
01:01:28,563 --> 01:01:30,883
The tundra didn't reach this far south,
608
01:01:31,723 --> 01:01:33,923
but there were still obvious changes.
609
01:01:34,443 --> 01:01:38,403
When conditions get very cold,
a lot of water is trapped as ice,
610
01:01:38,403 --> 01:01:41,483
in ice sheets, in glaciers,
and the sea level drops.
611
01:01:45,243 --> 01:01:47,723
When the sea level was lower
than it is today,
612
01:01:47,723 --> 01:01:50,203
that would have exposed a large plain
613
01:01:50,203 --> 01:01:53,243
where all these herbivores
would have been living,
614
01:01:53,243 --> 01:01:55,123
where the birds would have been living,
615
01:01:55,123 --> 01:01:58,283
where there would have been
shallow lakes with fresh water.
616
01:02:01,523 --> 01:02:05,323
They would have known exactly
which species they could consume,
617
01:02:05,323 --> 01:02:09,283
where to find them,
and how to best use them.
618
01:02:11,563 --> 01:02:14,243
These are just
a very small sample of all the bones,
619
01:02:14,243 --> 01:02:16,763
and all the remains
that we've found in the caves.
620
01:02:16,763 --> 01:02:21,883
We've got tens of thousands of artifacts
that we found in the last 30 years.
621
01:02:24,203 --> 01:02:26,763
They're eating animals
that are not expected,
622
01:02:26,763 --> 01:02:29,363
{\an8}and not normally associated,
with Neanderthals.
623
01:02:31,923 --> 01:02:35,923
We have evidence that they were going down
to the rocky shoreline
624
01:02:35,923 --> 01:02:37,323
and picking limpets.
625
01:02:37,323 --> 01:02:39,683
And, in fact, I've got a limpet here,
626
01:02:39,683 --> 01:02:44,163
which has still got a flint tool
stuck on to it.
627
01:02:44,163 --> 01:02:46,963
So, it's where the Neanderthal left it.
628
01:02:49,483 --> 01:02:54,083
But then we get this particular bone,
which comes from a common dolphin,
629
01:02:55,243 --> 01:02:57,043
and it's got cut marks on it.
630
01:02:58,803 --> 01:03:03,323
Maybe the dolphin was dead already
on the shore, but they defleshed it.
631
01:03:03,963 --> 01:03:05,883
They removed the flesh to consume it.
632
01:03:10,763 --> 01:03:15,203
The Neanderthals thrived in Europe
for longer than we have been around.
633
01:03:15,203 --> 01:03:16,243
That's for sure.
634
01:03:24,003 --> 01:03:26,803
To me, that says that they're intelligent,
635
01:03:26,803 --> 01:03:29,123
and that they understand
their environment.
636
01:03:34,283 --> 01:03:36,963
In that sense,
they were extremely successful.
637
01:03:42,883 --> 01:03:46,763
The Neanderthals were human.
They were resilient.
638
01:03:46,763 --> 01:03:48,563
They were very much like us.
639
01:03:49,203 --> 01:03:51,763
But, one day, it all came to an end.
640
01:03:55,163 --> 01:03:58,083
Which deepens the mystery
of their disappearance.
641
01:03:58,923 --> 01:04:04,403
After all, if the Gibraltar Neanderthals
were so resilient for so long,
642
01:04:05,243 --> 01:04:06,843
what on earth went wrong?
643
01:04:07,723 --> 01:04:12,003
People associate the Ice Age
with getting cold, which of course it did,
644
01:04:12,003 --> 01:04:13,923
but it also got dryer.
645
01:04:15,563 --> 01:04:18,923
The change that hit
these Neanderthals in Gibraltar,
646
01:04:18,923 --> 01:04:24,763
in my view, was one
of a world of trees disappearing.
647
01:04:30,083 --> 01:04:32,243
You have trees,
and why are those significant?
648
01:04:32,243 --> 01:04:36,323
Because they allow you
to ambush hunt large prey.
649
01:04:41,363 --> 01:04:44,323
Through time, their whole physique
650
01:04:44,323 --> 01:04:48,403
had become that
of a wrestler-type build, if you like,
651
01:04:48,403 --> 01:04:51,723
capable of jumping on top
of these animals with spears,
652
01:04:51,723 --> 01:04:54,363
thrusting spears
and killing those animals.
653
01:04:58,803 --> 01:05:02,083
Suddenly, that world becomes
an open landscape.
654
01:05:02,083 --> 01:05:05,643
The animals see you coming
a mile away. You can't get near them.
655
01:05:10,203 --> 01:05:11,763
When the change came,
656
01:05:11,763 --> 01:05:15,283
it was so rapid that their biology
couldn't change at that speed.
657
01:05:29,723 --> 01:05:31,363
And that's what hit them.
658
01:05:42,363 --> 01:05:45,803
We think that we are
the pinnacle of evolution,
659
01:05:45,803 --> 01:05:48,203
that's the way
we've always painted ourselves.
660
01:05:48,203 --> 01:05:51,563
Even with respect to the Neanderthals,
we're here, and they're not,
661
01:05:51,563 --> 01:05:54,243
because we were better than they were. Um...
662
01:05:54,243 --> 01:06:00,883
But you can be very highly adapted,
you can do very well on a planet,
663
01:06:00,883 --> 01:06:03,563
like, we'd argue,
perhaps we're doing today.
664
01:06:04,323 --> 01:06:08,243
And yet, the story tells us
that there are other ways of being human,
665
01:06:08,243 --> 01:06:11,003
and those ways can sometimes fail.
666
01:06:15,883 --> 01:06:18,483
We might think we're doing
very well on this planet,
667
01:06:18,483 --> 01:06:19,683
but just be aware.
668
01:06:26,803 --> 01:06:32,403
By around 40,000 years ago,
Neanderthal numbers were in free fall.
669
01:06:33,323 --> 01:06:38,603
Not just in Gibraltar,
but across their entire world.
670
01:06:42,563 --> 01:06:45,843
Climate change
was a factor in their decline.
671
01:06:48,603 --> 01:06:54,563
But so too, was increasing competition
from another species.
672
01:06:59,523 --> 01:07:05,403
To this day, all of us carry
a tiny bit of Neanderthal DNA.
673
01:07:09,363 --> 01:07:12,803
A legacy of our long-lost ancestors.
674
01:07:16,883 --> 01:07:21,323
For at least 100,000 years,
waves of Homo Sapiens
675
01:07:21,323 --> 01:07:25,803
had spread from Africa
into Europe and Asia,
676
01:07:29,403 --> 01:07:32,923
encountering Neanderthals
as they traveled.
677
01:08:03,323 --> 01:08:06,683
Some of these encounters
may have been violent.
678
01:08:44,723 --> 01:08:49,723
But some, presumably,
were more peaceful.
679
01:08:54,123 --> 01:08:59,203
One group of people recognizing
the humanity of the other.
680
01:09:08,883 --> 01:09:11,003
The path of these epic journeys
681
01:09:11,003 --> 01:09:14,563
would have taken
Homo Sapiens through the Middle East.
682
01:09:17,523 --> 01:09:23,923
Close to the ancestral burial ground
of the Shanidar Neanderthals.
683
01:09:38,563 --> 01:09:42,963
Neanderthal genes
are present inside many Homo Sapiens.
684
01:09:46,283 --> 01:09:51,203
And I do really believe
that we are cousins.
685
01:09:51,203 --> 01:09:53,963
We are of the same blood.
686
01:09:53,963 --> 01:09:56,123
We have the same ancestors.
687
01:10:04,843 --> 01:10:07,883
One of the things that I find
so fascinating about archaeology
688
01:10:07,883 --> 01:10:10,483
is that diversity of ways of being human.
689
01:10:12,643 --> 01:10:16,243
Looking at how people's skeletons are,
690
01:10:16,243 --> 01:10:20,043
can tell us about their lives
and their experience of the world.
691
01:10:22,963 --> 01:10:26,203
While excavating Shanidar Z,
we could see certain characteristics
692
01:10:26,203 --> 01:10:28,843
that suggested that they're an adult,
693
01:10:28,843 --> 01:10:32,203
but we didn't know
how old they were when they died,
694
01:10:32,203 --> 01:10:34,483
we didn't know
whether they were male or female,
695
01:10:34,483 --> 01:10:37,643
and we didn't know
a great deal either about their life.
696
01:10:40,723 --> 01:10:44,763
So a lot of those kinds of questions
of what we are working on answering now.
697
01:10:46,443 --> 01:10:51,243
What we've got here is the left radius.
So, this is one of the forearm bones.
698
01:10:52,523 --> 01:10:56,083
We can tell already that this was
a relatively small individual,
699
01:10:56,683 --> 01:11:02,443
between about one and a half,
or 1.55 meter to 1.60 meter tall.
700
01:11:03,403 --> 01:11:05,963
That's just over five foot essentially.
701
01:11:08,443 --> 01:11:12,683
Here we've got part of the lower jaw,
the mandible, with some of the teeth.
702
01:11:12,683 --> 01:11:16,003
An important thing to notice,
is that actually many of these teeth,
703
01:11:16,003 --> 01:11:19,803
especially the front teeth here,
are all extremely worn down.
704
01:11:20,803 --> 01:11:21,883
That's the enamel,
705
01:11:22,403 --> 01:11:25,803
that's completely worn off,
all of these teeth.
706
01:11:27,083 --> 01:11:30,683
Certainly, we know that
for a Neanderthal with teeth this worn,
707
01:11:30,683 --> 01:11:32,643
they had to be an older individual,
708
01:11:33,443 --> 01:11:36,523
probably somewhere
between about 40 and 50.
709
01:11:42,323 --> 01:11:46,323
There are ways that we can tell the sex
of the individual from the skeleton.
710
01:11:47,763 --> 01:11:50,923
What we did was use a technique
called proteomics,
711
01:11:50,923 --> 01:11:53,483
which is where you analyze
some of the proteins
712
01:11:53,483 --> 01:11:55,083
in the enamel of the tooth,
713
01:11:55,083 --> 01:11:59,443
because we know that there's
a particular protein that's produced,
714
01:11:59,443 --> 01:12:01,363
while that enamel's forming,
715
01:12:01,363 --> 01:12:05,603
that has a different version
that's encoded by
716
01:12:05,603 --> 01:12:08,763
what's on the X chromosome
compared to what's on the Y chromosome.
717
01:12:11,243 --> 01:12:15,403
So, that indicates very strongly to us
that this is a female individual.
718
01:12:21,683 --> 01:12:25,803
Quite often,
we think of Neanderthals as males,
719
01:12:25,803 --> 01:12:30,603
or we tend to focus on aspects
of male behavior.
720
01:12:32,843 --> 01:12:37,163
This is a really exciting opportunity
to understand Neanderthal society
721
01:12:37,163 --> 01:12:38,483
more completely.
722
01:12:45,163 --> 01:12:47,883
I think to have an actual reconstruction
723
01:12:47,883 --> 01:12:52,483
of what this Neanderthal woman
might have looked like
724
01:12:52,483 --> 01:12:55,323
during life will be incredibly exciting.
725
01:12:57,083 --> 01:13:00,563
- Well, Doctor Pomeroy.
- Let's find out.
726
01:13:01,963 --> 01:13:04,283
- We have one already prepared.
- Hmm.
727
01:13:04,923 --> 01:13:05,763
Yep.
728
01:13:13,483 --> 01:13:14,803
I'm gonna start from this.
729
01:13:21,763 --> 01:13:23,363
Oh, wow.
Wow.
730
01:13:26,643 --> 01:13:28,243
- Well.
Well.
731
01:13:28,243 --> 01:13:31,923
Amazing, we should turn
her round, so that everyone else can see.
732
01:13:33,083 --> 01:13:34,723
Wow.
733
01:13:36,483 --> 01:13:37,643
She's looking at me.
734
01:13:37,643 --> 01:13:42,083
Yeah, she is. You've probably spent
the most time with her, so...
735
01:13:42,083 --> 01:13:44,763
- Also, you remember the nose and...
- Yeah.
736
01:13:45,603 --> 01:13:47,123
- It's amazing.
Yeah.
737
01:13:47,123 --> 01:13:49,603
It's interesting
how they've done her expression,
738
01:13:49,603 --> 01:13:52,403
I mean the emotions
that are wrapped into it.
739
01:13:52,403 --> 01:13:56,043
I think that's the beauty
of these kinds of reconstructions,
740
01:13:56,043 --> 01:13:59,643
is that some people are somewhat critical,
741
01:13:59,643 --> 01:14:02,243
and say, "We can never know
what people looked like."
742
01:14:02,243 --> 01:14:06,003
There's various assumptions
we have to make, and that's very true,
743
01:14:06,003 --> 01:14:12,283
but... I think it does give you
a sense of her as a person.
744
01:14:12,283 --> 01:14:13,323
Hmm.
745
01:14:17,883 --> 01:14:21,603
She gets to the heart,
doesn't she, of what it means to be human.
746
01:14:21,603 --> 01:14:24,803
What it might have meant
to be human Neanderthal.
747
01:14:24,803 --> 01:14:27,123
Somehow, you do get something of the...
748
01:14:27,883 --> 01:14:31,163
I don't know,
of a deep life history to this person.
749
01:14:39,323 --> 01:14:44,163
It's the older people,
with their knowledge, their experience,
750
01:14:45,003 --> 01:14:48,483
{\an8}who would have known
where the good places were.
751
01:14:51,923 --> 01:14:55,123
That memory, whether it was
only within her head,
752
01:14:55,123 --> 01:14:58,123
or whether it was something
that was in her head,
753
01:14:58,123 --> 01:15:01,323
that she was sharing
through songs and stories
754
01:15:01,323 --> 01:15:03,883
with children and grandchildren,
755
01:15:03,883 --> 01:15:06,723
would have been
absolutely vital to the group.
756
01:15:08,323 --> 01:15:14,323
In many ways, that was the beginning
of civilization in a much more real sense
757
01:15:14,323 --> 01:15:16,843
than the first time
somebody built a building,
758
01:15:16,843 --> 01:15:18,243
or anything like that.
759
01:15:23,483 --> 01:15:27,563
She likely had that, kind of,
role of a repository of knowledge
760
01:15:27,563 --> 01:15:31,723
and had a major role in passing on
that knowledge to the next generation.
761
01:15:31,723 --> 01:15:35,643
And here we are, 75,000 years later,
762
01:15:36,923 --> 01:15:39,723
learning from her, still.
763
01:15:55,363 --> 01:15:59,603
Shanidar Cave has taught us
a huge amount about Neanderthals,
764
01:16:00,283 --> 01:16:02,083
and it still is teaching us.
765
01:16:07,203 --> 01:16:11,843
But also, it's made us reflect on
what does it mean to be human?
766
01:16:16,003 --> 01:16:19,363
Things like, having compassion
for one another.
767
01:16:22,443 --> 01:16:24,443
How we deal with death.
768
01:16:27,323 --> 01:16:30,323
And what's inevitably going to happen
to all of us.
769
01:16:38,763 --> 01:16:41,323
Right now,
we're getting a snapshot,
770
01:16:41,323 --> 01:16:43,963
and it's amazing and rich,
771
01:16:43,963 --> 01:16:46,163
but we certainly don't have
the whole picture,
772
01:16:46,163 --> 01:16:49,443
and there's much more there
to be discovered
773
01:16:52,283 --> 01:16:57,003
about what we understand
"being human" and "humanity" to be.