The sharpened wooden weapon pierced the front of the victim's left chest, traveling downward to rupture a lung and critical blood vessels before exiting through the shoulder blade. A 15-millimeter circular puncture with beveled edges confirmed the use of an all-wood point rather than a stone tip. Prior recovery from devastating trauma indicates that Neanderthals provided social support to disabled members of their group. This specimen may stand as the earliest fossil evidence of hominin interpersonal killing involving a wooden spear.
Key points
This find potentially represents the oldest known evidence of fatal interpersonal violenc…: This find potentially represents the oldest known evidence of fatal interpersonal violence involving a wooden spear in the hominin fossil record.
The individual's survival of a previous severe facial injury demonstrates that Neandertha…: The individual's survival of a previous severe facial injury demonstrates that Neanderthal groups provided communal care to injured peers.
Sophisticated wooden spear technology was utilized in lethal interactions tens of thousan…: Sophisticated wooden spear technology was utilized in lethal interactions tens of thousands of years ago in prehistoric communities.
Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1
- Date:
- October 31, 2026
- Source:
- University of Cambridge
- Summary:
- A Neanderthal who died 75,000 years ago may have been killed by a wooden spear deliberately aimed at the heart, revealing rare evidence of prehistoric violence. A circular hole in the shoulder blade suggests the weapon pierced the chest and caused a rapidly fatal injury. Surprisingly, the same individual had survived an earlier devastating facial injury, suggesting other Neanderthals provided care and support.
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A small, circular hole in a 75,000-year-old Neanderthal shoulder blade may reveal one of the earliest known cases of deadly violence involving a wooden spear. The remarkable discovery, made in a cave in Iraqi Kurdistan, suggests that the individual was struck by a sharpened wooden weapon that passed through the chest, potentially in a deliberate attack aimed at the heart.
Researchers believe the wound could represent the oldest evidence in the hominin fossil record of fatal interpersonal violence involving a wooden spear.
The shoulder blade (scapula) is an unusually delicate bone, with some areas so thin that light can pass…
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