The site was first excavated by
Dorothy Garrod during the summer of 1929. Several human skeletons discovered in the cave belong to an ancient population of
Homo sapiens. Both
Neanderthals and anatomically modern humans were present in the region from 200,000 to 45,000 years ago. The remains found at es-Skhul, together with those found at the other caves of Wadi el-Mughara and
Mugharet el-Zuttiyeh, were classified in 1939 by
Arthur Keith and as
Palaeoanthropus palestinensis, a descendant of
Homo heidelbergensis. According to a paper published in August 2025 in the journal ''l'Anthropologie
, a five year old child uncovered at this site was found to be a hybrid Homo sapiens''-Neanderthal based on its skull morphology. ==See also==