SKELETONS FROM SHANIDAR CAVE—SOLECKI 611 
teeth were worn down flat and fairly even, with no protrusion of the 
canines. The lower and upper front teeth exhibited curious wear. 
They were rounded from front to rear. The third molar seemed to be 
slightly larger than the second, and the latter in turn was slightly 
larger than the first. 
Below, but to the front and right of the lower jaw, was a bone 
fragment that looked like a piece of ordinary mammal bone. It was 
darker in color than the skull. 
Parts of the postcranial skeleton could be seen projecting out of 
the earth below and to the east of the lower jaw. Immediately to the 
east and touching the jaw was a slab of flat, rotted limestone of then 
undetermined dimensions. The stone lay between the skull and the 
presumed remainder of the skeleton proper. Further cleaning exposed 
the neck or cervical vertebrae in the angle between the lower jaw 
and the skull. The vertebrae, the first apparently still articulated 
with the skull, were contorted up to about the lower level of the eye 
sockets, then arched downward to the left side of the skull. The slab 
of limestone noted above cut the neck vertebrae at the fourth cervical. 
What appeared to be a collar bone or clavicle jutted out of the earth 
next to the vertebrae. 
The soil around the lower part of the face was a dark-brown sandy 
loam, containing flecks of charcoal, bits of limestone, and small frag- 
ments of bone. Thirty-five cm. to the west of the skull, close to the 
edge of the excavation, was a small hearth consisting of ashes and 
charcoal. This hearth was undoubtedly contemporaneous with the 
individual’s remains. 
When fully exposed in its niche on the narrow excavation shelf, 
the skull made an awesome sight. It was obvious to even the most 
casual of viewers that this was the head of a person who had suffered 
asudden and violentend. The bashed-in head, the displaced lower jaw, 
and the unnatural twist of the neck were mute evidence of a horrible 
death. My deduction that this was an antemortem, and not a post- 
mortem, accident is based upon the observations that the head, neck, 
and lower jaw, although greatly disturbed, still formed a unit, as 
though originally joined by flesh. The broken bones of the skull 
vault indicated that a sudden compression of a filled skull had caused 
it to burst at the sides. 
It was apparent that the rest of the skeleton lay to the east under 
tons of earth and stones at the same depth as the skull—over 4 meters. 
The uncovering of the postcranial skeleton presented an excavation 
problem for which two solutions were possible. The first was to 
remove the skull, then uncover the postcranial skeleton without fear 
of damage to the skull. The alternative was to seal the skull in 
place under a protective matrix, uncovering the entire skeleton as a 
complete unit. The latter method was attractive, since, when exca- 
