Editing History of Iraq (section)

== Prehistory ==
[[File:Shanidar Cave - overview.jpg|thumb|Inside the Shanidar Cave where the remains of eight adults and two infant [[Neanderthal]]s, dating from around 65,000–35,000 years ago were found.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Murray |first=Tim |title=Milestones in Archaeology: A Chronological Encyclopedia |year=2007 |isbn=978-1576071861 |pages=454|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Edwards |first=Owen |title="The Skeletons of Shanidar Cave" |publisher=Smithsonian |year=2010}}</ref>]]
Between 65,000 BC and 35,000 BC, northern Iraq was home to a [[Neanderthal]] culture, archaeological remains of which have been discovered at [[Shanidar Cave]].<ref>Edwards, Owen (March 2010). "The Skeletons of Shanidar Cave". Smithsonian. Retrieved 17 October 2014.</ref> During 1957–1961, [[Shanidar Cave]] was excavated by [[Ralph Solecki]] and his team from [[Columbia University]], uncovering nine skeletons of Neanderthal man of varying ages and states of preservation (labelled Shanidar I–IX). A tenth individual was later discovered by [[Melinda A. Zeder|M. Zeder]] during examination of a faunal assemblage from the site at the Smithsonian Institution. The remains seemed to suggest that Neanderthals had [[funeral|funeral ceremonies]], burying their dead with flowers (although the flowers are now thought to be a modern contaminant), and that they took care of injured and elderly individuals.

This region is also the location of a number of pre-Neolithic burials, dating from approximately 11,000 BC.<ref name="Ralph S. Solecki 2004 pp. 3">Ralph S. Solecki, Rose L. Solecki, and Anagnostis P. Agelarakis (2004). The Proto-Neolithic Cemetery in Shanidar Cave. Texas A&M University Press. pp. 3–5. {{ISBN|9781585442720}}.</ref> Since approximately 10,000 BC, Iraq, together with a large part of the [[Fertile Crescent]], was a center of a [[Neolithic]] culture known as [[Pre-Pottery Neolithic A]] (PPNA), where agriculture and cattle breeding appeared for the first time. In Iraq, this period has been excavated at sites like [[M'lefaat]] and [[Nemrik 9]]. The following Neolithic period, [[PPNB]], is represented by rectangular houses. At the time of the pre-pottery Neolithic, people used vessels made of stone, [[gypsum]], and burnt lime (Vaisselle blanche). Finds of [[obsidian]] tools from [[Anatolia]] are evidence of early trade relations. Further important sites of human advancement were [[Jarmo]] (circa 7100 BC),<ref name="Ralph S. Solecki 2004 pp. 3" /> a number of sites belonging to the [[Halaf culture]], and [[Tell al-'Ubaid]], the [[type site]] of the [[Ubaid period]] (between 6500 BC and 3800 BC).<ref>Carter, Robert A. and Philip, Graham Beyond the Ubaid: Transformation and Integration in the Late Prehistoric Societies of the Middle East (Studies in Ancient Oriental Civilization, Number 63) The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago (2010) {{ISBN|978-1-885923-66-0}} p.2, at http://oi.uchicago.edu/research/pubs/catalog/saoc/saoc63.html {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131115070526/http://oi.uchicago.edu/research/pubs/catalog/saoc/saoc63.html |date=15 November 2013 }}; "Radiometric data suggest that the whole Southern Mesopotamian Ubaid period, including Ubaid 0 and 5, is of immense duration, spanning nearly three millennia from about 6500 to 3800 B.C".</ref>