624 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1959 
flint flakes and Mousterian-type artifacts also were found at this depth. 
Indeed the first specimen recognized in this section as indicative of the 
Mousterian layer was a Mousterian-type point from the 5.75-6.00 m. 
level in square D 9. 
The top of layer D in this area was sealed by an exceptionally heavy 
rockfall, which bent a long, widespread lens of charcoal-stained soil at 
a depth of about 6.8 m. Charcoal streaks, excellent indicators of soil 
disturbance, were markedly compressed and bowed downward by the 
same rockfall between 5.5 and 6.5cm. The top of this rockfall lay at a 
depth of about 4.5 to 5.0m. These data prove that Shanidar IT was 
found well within the Mousterian layer. 
Removal of the skull presented a fairly simple problem. An excava- 
tion of about 60 cm. long by 25 cm. wide and 40 cm. deep exposed the 
skull fully. The soil was removed to the region of the clavicle. Be- 
cause the skull was in such close quarters, and part of it adhered to a 
stone, it had to be taken out in two sections. The front part formed 
the first cast, and the rear or occipital part formed the second cast. 
The limestone rock upon which the skull rested had to be included in 
the first cast. The protected remains were carried down the mountain 
trail on June 1, using the same means by which the Shanidar I skull 
was transported. 
The postcranial skelton, unfortunately, had to be left in the cave 
deposit for another season. I estimated that it will take at least 
two months to exhume it properly, digging down from the top, a 
time-consuming operation. Before we closed our work in the cave, 
a wall of stones was placed across the front of the area where 
Shanidar II was found to insure the safety of the remaining bones. 
SHANIDAR III 
Discovery of Shanidar III (field cat. No. 384 III; pls. 1, 11, 12; 
fig. 10), on April 16, antedated that of Shanidar I and ITI, but under 
field conditions its identity was not confirmed until later. It was 
the order of recognition of the finds, therefore, and not that of dis- 
covery, which determined the numbering. Indeed, the Shanidar III 
find had not even been entered in the early preliminary statements 
written in the field (Solecki, 1957hb, c). 
The remains consisted of some parts of the trunk and lower limbs 
and several teeth of an adult skeleton. As in the case with Shanidar 
I and II, this find was made in the course of cleaning and straight- 
ening the profile of the excavation. Shanidar III was found in 
the east wall of the excavation at a depth of 5.4 m. below “0” datum 
(fig. 3), in the extreme northeast corner of square B 9, or practically 
at the junction of squares A 8, A 9, B 8, and B 9 (fig. 1). It was 
about 2.75 m. south of, 0.5 m. west of, and 70 cm. below Shanidar I. 
