Shanidar Cave discovery suggests 75,000-year-old Neanderthal violence

Archaeologists studying remains from the Shanidar Cave in Iraqi Kurdistan have identified a fatal injury on a Neanderthal individual, known as ‘Shanidar A’, dating back approximately 75,000 years. The remains, which include a nearly intact left shoulder blade, a right hand, ribs, and teeth, suggest the individual died from a wound caused by a sharpened wooden spear.

The spear appears to have entered the left thoracic cavity from the front, traversing the body and damaging the lung and major arteries before exiting through the shoulder blade. While researchers note the death could have been a hunting accident, the force and positioning of the strike suggest a deliberate, fatal blow to the heart. This finding may represent the oldest known evidence of lethal interpersonal violence involving wooden weapons in the human fossil record.

Additional evidence indicates the individual, estimated to be around 45 years old, had survived previous injuries, such as a split tooth, suggesting they were cared for by their community. Following death, the individual was placed behind a large boulder in a burial site that later contained four other Neanderthals.