Some Neanderthals carried variants of the MC1R gene associated with red or lighter hair coloring in modern humans.

Some had genetic profiles consistent with lighter skin.

These were interpretive choices made within the best available scientific framework, not findings from the Shanidar Z remains themselves.

The result was a face of striking specificity.

A middle-aged woman with high cheekbones, deep-set eyes beneath a prominent brow ridge, a broad nose, a strong jaw.

She looks directly outward in the reconstruction.

She looks like someone who had been somewhere and seen things.