Scientists shows what mid-40s Neanderthal woman looked like [Video]

A 40-something woman was buried in a cave 75,000 years ago, laid to rest in a gully hollowed out to accommodate her body. Her left hand was curled under her head, and a rock behind her head may have been placed as a cushion.

Known as Shanidar Z, after the cave in Iraqi Kurdistan where she was found in 2018, the woman was a Neanderthal, a type of ancient human that disappeared around 40,000 years ago.

• Top science and technology headlines, all in one place

• The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App

Scientists studying her remains have painstakingly pieced together her skull from 200 bone fragments, a process that took nine months. They used the contours of the face and skull to guide a reconstruction to understand what she may have looked like.

The striking recreation is featured in a new documentary “Secrets of the Neanderthals” produced by BBC for Netflix, …