Reevaluating the Neanderthal 'Flower Burial': New Pollen Study Challenges Previous Findings

A new study challenges the long-held belief that Neanderthals buried their dead with flowers. The hypothesis was based on the discovery of pollen clumps near a Neanderthal skeleton in Shanidar Cave in 1960. However, recent research suggests that the pollen might have been brought into the cave by bees, rather than intentionally placed by Neanderthals. Analysis of the pollen and its composition cast doubt on the original flower burial theory. Nevertheless, the study supports the idea that Neanderthals treated their dead with care, as evidenced by the separate interments and common orientations of the skeletons in the cave.