This 2024 BBC Studios documentary explores recent archaeological findings that are changing our long-standing preconceptions of the culture and habits of Neanderthals.

For decades, we believed the Neanderthals were a primitive species of human with no capacity for culture or complex thought.

In the late 2010s, however, archaeologists excavated new Neanderthal remains that have challenged our understanding of our predecessors.

Emma Pomeroy, Graeme Barker, and Lucía López-Polín are part of a team of archaeologists working on the Shanidar Cave in Kurdistan, one of the best preserved Neanderthal burial grounds in the world.

Directed by Ashley Gething and narrated by Sir Patrick Stewart, Secrets of the Neanderthals follows the scientists as they unearth new remains and expand our notions of Neanderthal culture.