This is a significant gap.

Ancient DNA from Shanidar Z could have confirmed the sex assessment from morphology, provided information about her relationship to other Neanderthal populations, and potentially added to the growing dataset about Neanderthal physical characteristics derived from genetics.

That information is not available.

What the bones and the burial context can tell us is what we have to work with.

The Neanderthal Genome and What It Reveals About Human Connections

While Shanidar Z’s own DNA has not been recovered, the broader body of Neanderthal genomics provides essential context for understanding who Neanderthals were and how they relate to us.