Neanderthal Shoulder Wound Points to Possible Wooden Spear Killing in Iraq

The evidence comes from partial Neanderthal remains found in Shanidar Cave in Iraqi Kurdistan. A round hole in the shoulder blade may record a lethal wooden spear attack, according to Phys.org.

The individual died about 75,000 years ago. The BBC reported that archaeologists identified a 15mm hole that could have resulted from a sharpened wooden spear striking through the chest.

On October 15, New Scientist reported on the recently discovered remains, identifying the injured shoulder blade as belonging to Shanidar A. Its coverage showed front and back views of the hole attributed to a wooden spear.

The interpretation rests on more than the presence of a puncture. Popular Science reported that forensic details, including the entry angle and overall damage, informed the proposed spear explanation.

The possible significance is unusually early evidence of lethal violence involving a wooden weapon. Phys.org described the wound as potentially the earliest known example of lethal interpersonal violence with a wooden spear in a human ancestor.

On October 16, The Times of India reported another part of the individual's history: a severe facial injury survived for at least a year before the possibly fatal spear wound. That earlier survival raises the possibility that care and violence were both part of this Neanderthal's life.

The wooden spear explanation is a proposed reconstruction, not a complete account of the death. Live Science reported the archaeologists' interpretation of a spear passing through the chest, while acknowledging that exactly what happened is impossible to know.

The remains also offer a more complicated picture than violence alone. Discover Magazine highlighted a split tooth alongside the spear wound as evidence of possible care and violence in one individual's life. This case does not, by itself, establish how common violent encounters were among Neanderthals.

The central open questions concern the circumstances of the wound and what the earlier injury reveals about support from others. The coverage presents a possible lethal attack and possible care, but does not establish who inflicted the wound or exactly how the individual survived the facial injury, according to Live Science and The Times of India.