Issues of theory and method in the analysis of Paleolithic mortuary behavior: A view from Shanidar Cave.

Emma Pomeroy,Marta Mirazón Lahr,Paul Pettitt,Giuseppina Mutri,Chris Stringer,Dennis Sandgathe,Ariane Burke,Lucy Farr,Ceren Kabukcu,Andreas Nymark,Amos Frumkin,Eleni Asouti,Christopher E Miller,Paul Bennett,Tim Reynolds,Emily Tilby,Ross Lane,Dlshad Abdulmutalb,Graeme Barker,Bruno Maureille,Robert Foley,Evan Hill,Paul Goldberg,Nohemi Sala,Charles French,Delphine Bosch ,Curtis W Marean ,Ali Mustafa ,Chris Hunt

doi:10.1002/evan.21854

Abstract

Mortuary behavior (activities concerning dead conspecifics) is one of many traits that were previously widely considered to have been uniquely human, but on which perspectives have changed markedly in recent years. Theoretical approaches to hominin mortuary activity and its evolution have undergone major revision, and advances in diverse archeological and paleoanthropological methods have brought new ways of identifying behaviors such as intentional burial. Despite these advances, debates concerning the nature of hominin mortuary activity, particularly among the Neanderthals, rely heavily on the rereading of old excavations as new finds are relatively rare, limiting the extent to which such debates can benefit from advances in the field. The recent discovery of in situ articulated Neanderthal remains at Shanidar Cave offers a rare opportunity to take full advantage of these methodological and theoretical developments to understand Neanderthal mortuary activity, making a review of these advances relevant and timely.

Highlights

Evidence emerging in the last decade that these taxa interbred,[6,7,8] and potentially shared greater behavioral similarities than previously recognized,[9,10,11,12,13,14,15] gives renewed relevance to this discussion, concerning the degree of resemblance between these groups, and the dynamics of their interactions that preceded the extinction of the Neanderthals and the spread of modern humans across the globe
The partial remains of 10 Neanderthal men, women, and children, found during Ralph Solecki's 1951–1960 excavations at Shanidar Cave, Iraqi Kurdistan[23,24,25,26] (Figure 1), have featured centrally in discussions about whether Neanderthals conducted purposeful burial, how variable their mortuary behavior was in time and space, if deliberate burials signify the beginnings of religious belief, and if sites with multiple burials like Shanidar Cave signify notions of “persistent places” of burial and landscape attachment—all behaviors strongly associated with modern Homo sapiens
Solecki argued that some of the Shanidar Cave Neanderthals died in rock falls, others were intentionally buried, perhaps with accompanying rites, such as the famous “Flower Burial,” and for the use of “grave markers.”[23,27,28] Evidence from Shanidar Cave feeds into wider debates about spatiotemporal variation in Paleolithic mortuary behavior, including intentional burial and cannibalism/body processing at other sites,[19,29,30,31] which are relevant to characterizing Neanderthal capacities for cultural variation and innovation