SKULL OF SHANIDAR II — STEWART 531 



The mastoid process of Shanidar II is much larger than that of 

 Shanidar I ; indeed the tip of the process extends lower than that of 

 the occipitomastoid crest, which is the reverse of the situation in 

 Shanidar I. Such a large mastoid process is unusual in Neanderthals. 

 However, the occipitomastoid crest still is larger than in modern man. 

 (Cf. Stewart, 1961). The occipitomastoid suture is still open. 



The foramen magnum must have had a long oval shape just as in 

 Shanidar I. Probably in both cases the length was around 41 to 42 

 mm. and the width around 26 to 28 mm. The right occipital condyle 

 of Shanidar II and both condyles of Shanidar I impress me as being 

 small in proportion to the size of the foramen. The posterior border 

 of the right condyle of Shanidar II is not well defined owing to the 

 presence here of an arthritic area. This is the reason for the question 

 mark in the following list of measurements of the occipital condyles : 



Shanidar 



Maximum length (mm. ) . 

 Maximum width (mm.)- 



The occipital torus has about equal prominence in the two specimens, 

 but is shorter in Shanidar II in conformity with the generally nar- 

 rowed upper part of the occipital squama in this specimen. 



As for the rest of the vault, only a few additional facts could be 

 gleaned. The sagittal suture is gone entirely. A good part of the 

 area of the left half of the coronal suture is present. Unlike the 

 external lambdoid suture, the external coronal does not stand out 

 boldly and has disappeared lateral to the temporal line. Loss of 

 inner table here makes it impossible to determine the status of the 

 suture internally. 



The original thickness of the skull vault could not be investigated 

 in many places, but it was noted that the midright parietal reached 

 a maximum thickness of 11 mm. at one point. The surrounding area 

 did not exceed 8 to 9 mm. in thickness. Much the same thing was 

 observed in Shanidar I. Thus, these skulls would not be considered 

 primitive on the basis of vault thickness. 



In view of the fact that Shanidar I has ear exostoses, the remains 

 of the right auditory meatus of Shanidar II were explored and a 

 loose nodule of bone resembling an exostosis recovered. This finding 

 obviously contains the elements of wishful thinking and therefore 

 does not deserve to be accepted as proof of the existence of ear ex- 

 ostoses in this case. 



DISCUSSION 



The reason for comparing the second skull found in Shanidar cave 

 mainly with the first skull is their differing antiquity. Shanidar II 



