Welcome to 23 minutes archaeology with Noah! For episode 1 I will give a general introduction concerning the limitations of archaeological research, especially in the reconstruction of burial rites. I chose an example to illustrate how we work and try to find clues on prehistoric funerary practices. We will look at over 50-thousand-year-old, intentional burials of Neanderthal-individuals, found in Shanidar Cave and talk with Dr. Emma Pomeroy from the University of Cambridge, who published the amazing new results from the recent excavations of this northern Iraqi site.

Reverences:

• Pomeroy et al. (2020), New Neanderthal remains associated with the ‘flower burial’ at Shanidar Cave
• Pomeroy et al. (2019), Issues of theory and method in the analysis of Paleolithic mortuary behavior: A view from Shanidar Cave
• Sommer (1999), The Shanidar IV ‘Flower Burial’: A Re-evaluation of Neanderthal Burial Ritual
• Leroi-Gourhan (1998), Shanidar et ses Fleurs
• Solecki (1975), Shanidar IV, a Neanderthal Flower Burial in Northern Iraq

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