75,000-year-old Neanderthal remains show possible fatal spear wound
SCIENCEUnverifiedUpdated:
A possible fatal spear wound has been reported in the roughly 75,000-year-old Shanidar A. The interpretation rests on a shoulder-blade puncture and cannot distinguish an intentional attack from a hunting accident.
A spear may have passed from chest to back
According to the report, Shanidar A's remains, excavated in 2020 from Shanidar Cave in what is now Iraqi Kurdistan, preserve a shoulder-blade puncture. Researchers led by Emma Pomeroy said the injury appears fatal and may indicate that a sharpened wooden spear entered through the chest and exited toward the back.
The available report does not provide a comparable earlier assessment of this specific injury.
The puncture has been presented as possible direct evidence of lethal interpersonal violence among hominins, but an intentional killing has not been established.
If the wound resulted from an intentional attack, it may be among the earliest direct examples of interpersonal violence in hominins—humans and their close relatives. The report notes, however, that a hunting accident cannot be distinguished from an attack.
Sources
- 404 MediaThis Might Be the Earliest Known Spear Murder In Earth’s HistoryRead source →