SKELETONS FROM SHANIDAR CAVE—SOLECKI 633 
later than the Tabin finds, though still within the Lower Leval- 
loiso-Mousterian. Unfortunately, for comparative reasons, except for 
some isolated skeletal fragments from Tabiin, no skeletons were 
found in the Upper Levalloiso-Mousterian at Mount Carmel. How- 
ever, even these remains may be highly useful to compare with the 
Shanidar Neanderthals. 
Elsewhere in Palestine, the site of Shukbah (Garrod and Bate, 
1942; Keith, 1931) has yielded isolated skeletal fragments found with 
direct Upper Levalloiso-Mousterian cultural associations. These re- 
mains may be of prime importance for the Shanidar study, since they 
should be approximately in the same time horizon and cultural level. 
One other site, Mugharet el-Zuttiyeh (or M. ez-Zuttiyeh of Howell, 
1958, p. 185), yielded the very interesting Galilee skull (Turville- 
Petre, 1927). The Galilee skull, although from a lower cultural hori- 
zon than Shanidar, or in the Lower Levalloiso-Mousterian, has some 
resemblances to Shanidar I. Particularly interesting, in my opinion, 
are the rather divided brow ridges on both specimens. 
Presumably the terminal date for the Upper Levalloiso-Mousterian 
culture at Mount Carmel is about the same as the terminal date for 
the Mousterian elsewhere in the Near East. Thus, the date of 46,000 
years for the top of the Mousterian layer at Shanidar is closely 
matched by the date of 48,000 years at Jerf Ajla in Syria (Coon, 1957, 
p. 315). It is hoped that we can soon reach back farther into the 
past with newer and more refined methods of dating. The “provi- 
sional” correlation tables are fast becoming outmoded, as new firm 
dates are added to the list. 
CONCLUSION 
Three adult Neanderthal skeletons, Shanidar I, II, and III, were 
recovered from the upper part of the Mousterian deposits of Shanidar 
Cave by the Third Shanidar Expedition in 1957. The youngest of 
these remains, Shanidar I, is dated at about 46,000 years ago. The 
others, by virtue of their lower stratigraphic positions, are somewhat 
older. The deposits in which the Shanidar Neanderthals have been 
found are correlated with the Upper Levalloiso-Mousterian of Pales- 
tine; hence they are younger than the well-known Lower Levalloiso- 
Mousterian Neanderthals of Mount Carmel, 600 miles away. The 
latter are now accepted as of early Wiirm I age in the Alpine sequence 
by Dr. D. A. E. Garrod. 
The Shanidar remains should provide us with information about 
the final Neanderthal population in the Near East, and what hap- 
pened to them during and after Wiirm I times in that part of the 
world. Significantly, the Shanidar population on first impression 
appears to be more closely related to the “conservative” Tabi skele- 
tons than to the “progressive” or more advanced Skhil skeletons. 
