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75,000-year-old Neanderthal skeleton reveals signs of targeted violence

By · Via Times of India · Published by Everything Blog

In short

The skeleton, designated Shanidar A, was preserved under approximately 7.5 meters of sediment, which kept the injured left shoulder blade largely intact. Analysts determined that a weapon entered the upper left chest, cutting through vital organs before puncturing the bone with a 15-millimeter circular hole. While the trajectory suggests targeted interpersonal violence, researchers emphasize that a close-range hunting accident remains a viable explanation. The examination also revealed that this individual had previously recovered from a separate severe facial injury that damaged his front teeth.

Key points

  • The downward angle of the spear wound suggests an attack targeted at the victim's chest a…: The downward angle of the spear wound suggests an attack targeted at the victim's chest and heart.
  • Researchers cannot definitively rule out a close-range hunting accident involving thrusti…: Researchers cannot definitively rule out a close-range hunting accident involving thrusting spears used on large animals.
  • Skeletal evidence indicates this Neanderthal had previously survived major physical traum…: Skeletal evidence indicates this Neanderthal had previously survived major physical trauma, specifically a severe facial injury.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

Everybody is aware of the story of Cain and Abel, the biblical tale of the world's first murder. But what if I tell you that the story of human anger and violence goes way beyond what we can imagine? Everyone hears from their grandfathers and grandmothers how good and lovely the world was before, and they too have heard the same story, almost making early humans seem like they lived in an actual heaven.

Factually, long before modern civilisation, our ancestors lived in caves and depended on hunting and gathering for survival, but what if their psychology was not very different from ours? Anger, greed and a thirst for possession grasped them as much as we deal with them. That might be one of the reasons why people find their life's solutions in a book written thousands of years ago. Maybe we have not changed as much as we think. A recent discovery in Iraqi Kurdistan has offered rare evidence of what could be one of the earliest known cases of deliberate lethal violence involving a wooden spear.

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