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A 70,000-year-old Neanderthal skeleton found in the foothills of Iraq has been described as “a truly spectacular find”.

The remains, consisting of a crushed but complete skull, upper thorax and both hands, were unearthed at the Shanidar Cave site 500 miles north of Baghdad.

Although its gender is yet to be determined, early analysis suggests the skeleton, named Shanidar Z, is more than 70,000 years old and has the teeth of a “middle- to older-aged adult”.

The cave has also been home to remains of 10 other Neanderthal people excavated around 60 years ago, with clumps of ancient pollen surrounding one of the skeletons.

The presence of pollen was seen by some archaeologists as evidence that these hominid species not only buried their dead but did so with flowers, challenging the widely-held belief that Neanderthals were dumb and animalistic.

Chris Hunt, a professor of cultural paleoecology at Liverpool John Moores University, described Shanidar Z as “a truly spectacular find”.

He said: “The upper remains are staggeringly complete, although the skull was flattened by compression under many tons of cave sediment.

“The body was placed in a depression on the cave floor in a semi-reclining position, with a big stone lying behind the head.”

Four of the 10 Neanderthals at the site were positioned in what the researchers described as a “unique assemblage”, raising a question as to whether they were returning to the same spot to lay their dead.