New Analysis Links a 75,000-Year-Old Neanderthal Shoulder Wound to a Wooden Spear

A fifteen-millimeter hole and surrounding shoulder-blade damage

Researchers analyzed remains of Shanidar A from Shanidar Cave in Iraqi Kurdistan. They reported that the left scapula, or shoulder blade, has a 15-millimeter-wide perforation and damage consistent with a puncture wound. They suggest a rounded wooden spear was the most likely cause and that the injury was likely fatal. The researchers cannot determine whether it resulted from interpersonal violence or a hunting accident.

The supplied account does not provide a directly comparable before-to-now measure. It describes Shanidar A as a newly identified Neanderthal individual whose remains were excavated in 2019 and 2022.

A reported analysis found a 15-millimeter hole, tiny fractures, and displaced bone fragments in Shanidar A's left scapula. The researchers interpret this pattern as a puncture wound, most likely from a rounded wooden spear, though no weapon survives.

If the interpretation holds, the injury could be the earliest known example in the hominin fossil record of an interpersonal spear attack. The finding also adds evidence relevant to Neanderthal injury, care, and the placement of the dead at Shanidar Cave, while leaving the cause of the wound unresolved.