Shanidar Cave

cave · 1900 AD – 2099 AD

Shanidar Cave is a cave located in the Zagros Mountains, within the Erbil Governorate of the Kurdistan Region in northern Iraq. The cave was the site of hominin activity beginning some 65,000 years ago. Following the first archaeological investigation of the cave in 1951, fieldwork has continued and, among other finds, has documented the remains of a dozen Neanderthals. There was proto-Neolithic activity in the cave, dated ca. 10,500 BCE and related to the Natufian culture. Some 35 individuals of this phase were buried in the cave.

Shanidar Cave
Coordinates
36.83481, 44.21915
Also known as
Shānadar (ara), Shāná Dar (ara), شانى در (ara)
Dating
attested

Sources

See Shanidar Cave on the map →