Shanidar Cave

Shanidar is a wide cave mouth high on a mountainside in the Bradost range, and excavation there from the 1950s produced the remains of ten Neanderthal individuals, including one who had survived years with severe injuries and disability, which was taken as evidence that the group cared for its members, and another around whom clustered pollen was interpreted as flowers laid at burial, the flower burial that entered popular accounts of Neanderthals. Both interpretations have been argued over since, with the pollen possibly carried in by burrowing animals, but the site remains central to the debate about Neanderthal behaviour. New excavations from 2014 have found further remains. The cave itself is enormous, open and dry, and has been used by shepherds for millennia.

What you actually see

• The great cave mouth - a wide high opening in the mountainside.
• Excavation trenches - the deep cuts left by successive campaigns.
• The dry interior - the sheltered floor used by people for millennia.
• The Zagros view - the mountains from the cave entrance.

When to go

April to June for green hills and wildflowers, September to November for clear weather. Winter can bring snow to the approach. The climb up to the cave takes twenty to thirty minutes.

Honest expectations

The walk up is steep. There is little interpretation on site and the famous finds are in Baghdad and the United States. Excavation seasons may restrict access. The flower-burial story is contested and the site does not explain that.

Nearby

Rawanduz lies south; Bekhal waterfall is on the same road.