Hole in Neanderthal shoulder bone linked to ancient wooden spear
Archaeologists have identified a 15mm hole in a 75,000-year-old Neanderthal shoulder blade as evidence of a lethal wooden spear attack. This discovery suggests that Neanderthal societies experienced higher levels of interpersonal violence than previously understood.
Why it matters
It provides rare, concrete evidence of prehistoric violence and the use of wooden weaponry in the Middle East, challenging historical assumptions about Neanderthal behavior.
Share Save Add as preferred on Google Pallab Ghosh Science Correspondent University of Cambridge A wooden spear caused the hole in this Neanderthal shoulder blade, scientists say A Neanderthal who died 75,000 years ago may have been struck through the chest by a sharpened wooden spear, archaeologists say.
They say a 15mm hole found in a shoulder blade in a cave in Iraqi Kurdistan could be the earliest evidence of lethal violence involving such a weapon.
From the angle of the wound and other evidence, the researchers believe the spear entered the individual's chest and passed through the body - probably damaging a lung and major blood vessels - and exited through the left shoulder blade to leave a near-perfect hole.
The research is the latest in emerging evidence that suggests Neanderthal societies experienced more violence than previously thought.
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