The Cambridge team’s reconstruction was subjected to peer review before publication, and the key anatomical findings — sex estimation, age assessment, the basic morphological features consistent with Neanderthal anatomy — were supported by the evidence and acknowledged as such by other specialists in the field.

Other Neanderthal Burials: Shanidar in Context

Shanidar Z is one site in a pattern that extends across the Neanderthal world.

La Chapelle-aux-Saints in France: a nearly complete Neanderthal skeleton found in 1908, positioned in what appeared to be a grave-like depression, associated with animal bones.

The site has been re-excavated in recent years with modern methods, and the new analysis has been interpreted as supporting deliberate burial.

La Ferrassie in France: remains of eight Neanderthals — adults and children — found in what appear to be deliberate burials, some associated with stone tools and animal bones.