Shanidar A wound may be early evidence of a fatal wooden-spear strike
Researchers say a hole in a Neanderthal shoulder blade is consistent with a wooden-spear wound, but they cannot establish whether the strike was deliberate.
Shanidar A, a Neanderthal whose remains were found in Shanidar Cave in Iraqi Kurdistan, may have died from a wooden-spear wound about 75,000 years ago, according to research published in Scientific Reports. The finding could be the earliest known evidence of a fatal wooden-spear strike against a human ancestor, but the researchers cannot establish whether it was deliberate violence or an accident.
What the hole in Shanidar A’s shoulder blade shows
The researchers examined a circular hole measuring 15 millimetres across in Shanidar A’s shoulder blade. They argue that its rounded shape is consistent with a sharpened wooden spear; a stone or flint point would be expected to leave a differently shaped wound. The proposed weapon is an interpretation of the bone damage, rather than an object recovered from the wound.
The wound’s angle and the force thought necessary to make it led the researchers to propose that a spear passed through the chest and exited at the shoulder blade. Lead author Emma Pomeroy said the strike may have been aimed toward the heart, according to The National and BBC News. Neither the proposed path nor the intended target can be observed directly from the surviving remains.
Why researchers cannot establish intent
Pomeroy also acknowledged that a hunting accident was possible. BBC News reported that the injury could have resulted from friendly fire or another accident. The evidence does not identify who inflicted the wound. The National reported that an early human could have been responsible, while violence between Neanderthals was described as a more straightforward explanation.
ABC News reported that an independent expert found the results interesting but said further research was needed to support the study’s conclusions. That caution matters to the claim of interpersonal violence: the hole may indicate how Shanidar A was wounded without establishing the circumstances in which the spear was used.
How the find fits the Shanidar Cave record
Shanidar A’s partial remains include a mostly complete hand, teeth and the left shoulder blade, ABC News reported. Researchers have also discussed evidence of burial and caregiving associated with the remains. According to The National, Shanidar A had damaged teeth that partly healed during life, indicating an earlier injury survived before death.
Wooden spears long predate this individual: The National reported that a rounded wooden spear found at Clacton-on-Sea in England is more than 400,000 years old. The significance of the Shanidar A study lies in its proposed link between such a weapon and a potentially lethal wound in a Neanderthal fossil.
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Sources and context
- Fatal Neanderthal wound may be earliest evidence of a wooden spear attack on a human ancestorPhys.org (article provided by the University of Cambridge)
- Earliest evidence of human ancestor killed with wooden spear found in Iraqi caveThe National
- Remains may be earliest evidence of ancient human speared to deathABC News
- Hole in Neanderthal shoulder bone linked to ancient wooden spearBBC News
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.