In brief
Scientists uncovered a 15‑mm hole in a Neanderthal shoulder blade that likely came from a sharpened wooden spear. The wound indicates a lethal strike through the chest, suggesting early human-to-human conflict. Similar injuries in older skulls extend violent encounters back 430,000 years. This work reshapes our view of how early people lived—and fought—long before farming.
A 75k-Year-Old Neck‑Wound Sheds Light on Early Violence
Archaeologists working in an Iraqi cave uncovered a Neanderthal shoulder blade with a clean 15‑mm hole.
Dr. Emma Pomeroy and her team say the round opening was made by a sharpened wooden spear that passed through the chest, possibly damaging lung and major arteries before exiting the skull.
This is the earliest direct evidence that prehistoric hunter‑gatherers used wooden weapons to kill each other.
The find is part of a growing list of injuries that challenge the belief that organized violence began only with farming.
Similar healed wounds on 430,000‑year‑old Neanderthal skulls in Spain suggest lethal attacks began hundreds of thousands of years before agriculture.
Although scientists debate if the injury was intentional or a hunting mishap, experts lean toward interpersonal conflict—especially given the wound’s precise trajectory.
The Shanidar Cave remains, including the wounded skeleton named Shanidar A, provide a stark reminder that early human societies were not always peaceful.
These discoveries show that violence is an ancient part of our history, shaping the evolution of human behavior in ways we are only beginning to understand.
