The 1.5cm Hole in a Neanderthal’s Shoulder Could Be the Oldest Spear Killing Ever Found

It started with a small, smooth hole in a shoulder blade. More than 70,000 years after a Neanderthal died in a cave in Iraqi Kurdistan, archaeologists now think that wound may be the oldest known sign that a human ancestor was killed by a wooden spear.

A tiny wound with a huge implication

The clue is strikingly small. Researchers examining Neanderthal remains from Shanidar cave found a round opening, about 1.5cm wide, in a left shoulder blade. On closer inspection, they also identified three fractures radiating from the hole, along with bone fragments packed into the damaged area.

Those details matter because they suggest the bone was struck with force. The team said the fragments were probably punched out of the thin shoulder blade when a spear passed through it. The shape of the opening, together with the pattern of damage, points strongly to a wound caused by a wooden spear coming from the front.

That is why the discovery stands out. If the interpretation is correct, it may represent the oldest evidence so far of a human ancestor being killed by a wooden spear.

Why scientists think it was a "kill shot"

Dr Emma Pomeroy, a biological anthropologist at the University of Cambridge, said the position of the wound and the force needed to drive a spear through the chest suggest far more than a glancing blow.

According to Pomeroy, a weapon entering from the front in that position would have pierced the lung and probably cut through arteries before exiting through the shoulder blade. She described it as a "kill shot" aimed at the heart, adding: "I don’t think that’s something you do accidentally."

Even so, the researchers are not claiming they can fully reconstruct the moment. They cannot say with certainty whether the injury came from a hunting mishap or an intentional attack. Chris Hunt, emeritus professor at Liverpool John Moores University and a co-author of the paper, said a hunting accident is conceivable. He also said purposeful interpersonal violence cannot be ruled out.

That uncertainty is part of what makes the find so compelling. The physical evidence appears to show a lethal strike, but the exact circumstances behind it remain out of reach.

The remains were found in a cave with an unusual burial pattern

The Neanderthal was uncovered in Shanidar cave in Iraqi Kurdistan, where archaeologists excavated human remains from beneath nearly 8 metres of rock and sediment. The injured individual was not alone.

At least five Neanderthals had been placed in the same location over a period of years. The burial area was a depression behind a huge boulder near the cave entrance, no larger than a fridge. Some bodies seem to have been laid on top of others that were still decomposing.

Pomeroy said that returning to the same place to deposit bodies over several years or even decades is highly unusual in the Neanderthal archaeological record. In her view, that repeated use of the same spot suggests there was meaningful behaviour involved in how the dead were placed there.

Only part of the wounded Neanderthal was recovered. The remains included the damaged left shoulder blade, seven teeth, several ribs and bone fragments, plus an almost complete right hand that was leaning against the boulder. The individual was an adult, estimated to have been about 45 years old.

This person had already survived a serious earlier injury

The possible spear wound was not the only sign that this Neanderthal had endured major physical trauma. Examination of the teeth showed a lower incisor had been split vertically, leaving only half of it in place. Nearby teeth had also been rotated inward.

Pomeroy said that kind of damage would have required a severe blow to the face. She added that the pain would have been intense and that the individual may well have needed help.

One detail suggests that injury was not fresh. Hardened plaque had built up on the broken tooth, and the researchers said it would have taken at least a year for that to accumulate. In other words, the person appears to have lived on for a significant period after suffering the dental trauma, before the later wound that was almost certainly fatal.

That makes the skeleton more than just a possible record of a violent death. It also hints at a life that included survival after serious injury, and perhaps support from others.

Why a wooden spear is such a rare thing to prove

Part of the reason the discovery matters is that wooden weapons almost never survive from deep prehistory. Plant material breaks down so easily that direct evidence is scarce.

There are some important exceptions. Timber spears dating to about 200,000 years ago have been found in Germany, preserved in waterlogged ground. The oldest known wooden spear tip is a rounded, pointed example discovered in Clacton-on-Sea in 1911, dated to more than 400,000 years old.

Hunt said Neanderthals at Shanidar were mainly hunting ibex and may have used wooden spears shaped like modern javelins for that purpose. That makes the idea of a wooden spear entirely plausible in this setting, even if the weapon itself is long gone.

Scientists in Spain also recently described hundreds of wooden imprints and artefacts suggesting Neanderthals worked wood extensively, producing trays, plates, tripods, spears and other objects. Finds like that strengthen the broader picture of Neanderthals as skilled users of wood. What is much harder to capture in the fossil record is a single deadly encounter.

A 70,000-year-old mystery that still has no final answer

The Shanidar skeleton offers a rare combination of clues. There is a wound with a shape and fracture pattern consistent with a spear. There is a burial context that appears to show repeated return to the same spot. There is evidence that the individual had already survived a damaging earlier injury.

What no one can do is close the case completely. The injury could reflect a hunting accident. It could also point to violence between people. Hunt said we may never know exactly how the Neanderthal at Shanidar died.

Still, the image left by the bones is hard to ignore. A smooth circular hole in a shoulder blade, hidden for more than 70,000 years under metres of sediment, may now be telling one of the oldest deadly stories ever read from a human ancestor’s remains.