Shanidar Cave is a unique archaeological site in Kurdistan where scientists found the remains of 10 Neanderthal men, women, and children. Some of these individuals had survived serious injuries, and one seemed to have been buried with flowers beneath his body. The discoveries at Shanidar challenged long-standing ideas of who Neanderthals were and what separates our species from theirs. Now, more than 50 years after the original excavations, scientists have returned to Shanidar to answer lingering questions about the Neanderthals who lived and died there.

Double your impact

Support Origin Stories with a one-time or monthly donation. Your gift will be matched, and every dollar helps make this show possible. Go to leakeyfoundation.org/originstories to donate.

Links to learn more

The Shanidar Cave Project
Ralph Solecki's excavations
Ralph S. and Rose L. and Solecki Papers at the Smithsonian
Shanidar Z: 75,000-year-old face revealed
More about Shanidar Z
Shanidar Cave location
New Shanidar research on cooking
Revisiting the flower burial
Shanidar: The First Flower People (pdf of book by Ralph Solecki)

Sponsors

Origin Stories is a project of The Leakey Foundation, a donor-supported nonprofit dedicated to funding human origins research and sharing discoveries to advance public understanding of science.

 This episode is generously sponsored by Dub and Ginny Crook. Dub and Ginny are long-time Leakey Foundation Fellows who directly support scientific research and science communication projects. They are passionate about human origins research and making science accessible for all. We are deeply grateful for their support.

Are you interested in sponsoring a future episode? Email media@leakeyfoundation.org to learn more!

Origin Stories is listener-supported. Additional support comes from Jeanne Newman, the Anne and Gordon Getty Foundation, and the Joan and Arnold Travis Education Fund.

Credits

This episode was produced and written by Ray Pang and Meredith Johnson. Sound design by Ray Pang. Our editor is Audrey Quinn. Michael Gallagher helped record the interviews at Cambridge. Our theme music is by Henry Nagle with additional music by Blue Dot Sessions and Lee Roservere.

2024 was another amazing year in human origins research. In this episode, three Leakey Foundation grantees (and one podcast host) share their picks for the most exciting discoveries of the year.

Support this show and the science we talk about. Your tax-deductible gift to The Leakey Foundation will be quadruple-matched through midnight on December 31! Click here to donate.

Want more science between podcast episodes? Join our monthly newsletter for human origins news and updates from Origin Stories and The Leakey Foundation.

Links to learn more

All research articles are open-access and free to read

On the genetic basis of tail-loss evolution in humans and apes

Why don’t humans have tails? Scientists find answers in an unlikely place

Long genetic and social isolation in Neanderthals before their extinction

Meet Thorin: A cave-dwelling population of Neanderthals isolated for 50,000 years

Recurrent evolution and selection shape structural diversity at the amylase locus

How early humans evolved to eat starch

Footprint evidence for locomotor diversity and shared habitats among early Pleistocene hominins

Fossilized footprints reveal two extinct hominin species living side by side 1.5 million years ago

In this episode, we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the discovery of Lucy, one of the most iconic and important scientific discoveries ever made. Paleoanthropologist Don Johanson tells the story of his early scientific career and the pivotal moment when he discovered 3.2 million-year-old hominin fossils in Ethiopia's Afar region. It's a story that connects us to our deepest roots and shows how one remarkable fossil changed our view of what it means to be human.

Links to learn more:

Lucy and the Taung Child: A Century of Science - from The Leakey Foundation

Institute of Human Origins Lucy 50—A Year for Human Origins

Lucy 50th Anniversary Video Playlist from the Institute of Human Origins

How the Famous Lucy Fossil Revolutionized the Study of Human Origins - Scientific American

Quadruple your impact:

Through December 31 all donations will be quadruple-matched! Donate now to quadruple your impact on human origins science and education. Your tax-deductible donation will be matched 4x!

Click to donate to The Leakey Foundation today!

Sponsors

This episode is generously sponsored by the Leis family in honor of Jorge Leis, who has served on The Leakey Foundation board of trustees since 2017.

Jorge and his siblings grew up in a family where curiosity, exploration, learning, and science were the most valued of human endeavors. His family members are proud of Jorge's dedication to helping keep scientific organizations such as The Leakey Foundation relevant and growing.

Special thanks to Dianne and Joe Leis, Donna, and Art Leis for sponsoring this tribute to Jorge.

Origin Stories is listener-supported. Additional support comes from the Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation, Jeanne Newman, Camilla Smith, and the Joan and Arnold Travis Education Fund.

Credits

This episode was produced by Ray Pang and Meredith Johnson, sound design by Ray Pang. Our editor is Audrey Quinn. Music by Henry Nagle, Blue Dot Sessions, and Lee Roservere.