He was investigating the site’s long history of human occupation.

What he found transformed the site into one of the most discussed archaeological locations in the world.

Working through the cave’s deep sediment layers, Solecki and his team uncovered Neanderthal skeletons.

Eventually, the remains would be catalogued as Shanidar 1 through Shanidar 9, plus additional fragments identified later.

The range of individuals was striking: adults, adolescents, and infants, spanning an extended period of time.

Some of those individuals showed evidence of injuries that had healed.