Pomeroy Emma, Mirazón Lahr Marta, Crivellaro Federica, Farr Lucy, Reynolds Tim, Hunt Chris O, Barker Graeme
School of Natural Sciences and Psychology, Liverpool John Moores University, James Parsons Building, Byrom Street, Liverpool L3 3AF, UK.
Leverhulme Centre for Human Evolutionary Studies, Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge, Fitzwilliam Street, Cambridge CB2 1QH, UK.
J Hum Evol. 2017 Oct;111:102-118. doi: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2017.07.001. Epub 2017 Aug 4.
The Neanderthal remains from Shanidar Cave, excavated between 1951 and 1960, have played a central role in debates concerning diverse aspects of Neanderthal morphology and behavior. In 2015 and 2016, renewed excavations at the site uncovered hominin remains from the immediate area where the partial skeleton of Shanidar 5 was found in 1960. Shanidar 5 was a robust adult male estimated to have been aged over 40 years at the time of death. Comparisons of photographs from the previous and recent excavations indicate that the old and new remains were directly adjacent to one another, while the disturbed arrangement and partial crushing of the new fossils is consistent with descriptions and photographs of the older discoveries. The newly discovered bones include fragments of several vertebrae, a left hamate, part of the proximal left femur, a heavily crushed partial pelvis, and the distal half of the right tibia and fibula and associated talus and navicular. All these elements were previously missing from Shanidar 5, and morphological and metric data are consistent with the new elements belonging to this individual. A newly discovered partial left pubic symphysis indicates an age at death of 40-50 years, also consistent with the age of Shanidar 5 estimated previously. Thus, the combined evidence strongly suggests that the new finds can be attributed to Shanidar 5. Ongoing analyses of associated samples, including for sediment morphology, palynology, and dating, will therefore offer new evidence as to how this individual was deposited in the cave and permit new analyses of the skeleton itself and broader discussion of Neanderthal morphology and variation.
1951年至1960年间发掘的来自沙尼达尔洞穴的尼安德特人遗骸，在关于尼安德特人形态和行为各个方面的争论中发挥了核心作用。2015年和2016年，该遗址的重新发掘在1960年发现沙尼达尔5号部分骨骼的紧邻区域发现了人类遗骸。沙尼达尔5号是一名强壮的成年男性，据估计死亡时年龄超过40岁。对之前和最近发掘的照片进行比较表明，新旧遗骸彼此直接相邻，而新化石的混乱排列和部分挤压与旧发现的描述和照片一致。新发现的骨头包括几块椎骨碎片、一块左钩骨、左股骨近端的一部分、一个严重挤压的部分骨盆，以及右胫骨和腓骨的远端一半以及相关的距骨和舟骨。所有这些部位在沙尼达尔5号中之前都缺失了，形态学和测量数据与属于该个体的新部位一致。新发现的一块左耻骨联合部分表明死亡年龄在40至50岁之间，也与之前估计的沙尼达尔5号的年龄一致。因此，综合证据有力地表明，这些新发现可以归因于沙尼达尔5号。因此，对相关样本正在进行的分析，包括沉积物形态学、孢粉学和年代测定，将为该个体如何被沉积在洞穴中提供新证据，并允许对骨骼本身进行新的分析以及对尼安德特人形态和变异进行更广泛的讨论。
