PrehistoryMiddle Palaeolithic · Shanidar Cave, Kurdistan Region, Iraq
A 75,000-year-old Neanderthal from Shanidar Cave was killed by a wooden spear, and had been cared for after an earlier injury
A round 15mm hole through a shoulder blade may be the earliest known sign of a deadly wooden-spear attack on a human ancestor.
In brief 3 key points
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- A circular hole through the shoulder blade of Shanidar A points to a sharpened wooden spear
- The spear went through the chest from the front, which researchers think may have been a deliberate heart shot
- A split tooth shows the Neanderthal survived a heavy blow to the face for at least a year
A round hole in the shoulder blade of a Neanderthal from Shanidar Cave in Iraqi Kurdistan may be the earliest known example of a fatal attack with a wooden spear in the human fossil record. The adult, known as Shanidar A, died about 75,000 years ago.
The Cambridge-led team that excavated the remains published the findings in the journal Scientific Reports. Emma Pomeroy of Cambridge's Department of Archaeology is the lead author.
A wooden point, not stone
The scapula survived almost intact under seven and a half metres of rock and sediment, apart from a circular hole 15mm wide. The researchers say it was made by a sharpened wooden spear, because a flint or stone tip would leave a flat or angular hole.
The spear entered the left side of the chest from the front, passed through the lung and probably major arteries, and punched out through the shoulder blade. Bevelling around the hole is typical of an exit wound. Tiny bone shards pushed out by the weapon suggest it came in from above, on a downward path.
“Holes left by recreations of spears from this time are an excellent fit for the one we found in the Neanderthal scapula.”
Emma Pomeroy, University of Cambridge
Few wooden objects survive from so long ago. Spears about 200,000 years old were found at Schöningen in Germany in the 1990s, and the pointed end of a wooden spear more than 400,000 years old was found at Clacton-on-Sea in England in 1911.
Accident or attack
Pomeroy says the death could have been a hunting accident, since animals such as mammoths may have been hunted up close with thrusting spears. But the position of the wound and the force needed point to an intended kill shot at the heart. The researchers cannot say who threw it. They think violence between Neanderthals is the simplest explanation.
“Evidence of systematic violence is extremely rare in deep prehistory.”
Graeme Barker, who leads the Shanidar Cave excavations
Cared for by others
The shoulder blade lay with a mostly complete right hand, ribs and seven teeth from an adult of about 45. One lower front tooth had been split lengthways, and tartar built up on the exposed root. That means the Neanderthal kept living and eating for at least a year after a major blow to the face, which Pomeroy says would have needed care from others.
Shanidar A was found in 2020 in a burial cluster first identified in 1960. It now holds five individuals, four adults and an infant, in a space about 1.5 metres long. Shanidar A is the deepest, laid on their back with the head facing east.
“The best explanation is intentional and symbolic funerary behaviour.”
Emma Pomeroy, University of Cambridge
Sources (2)
Peer-reviewed paperfrom University of Cambridge
- Fatal wound in a 75,000-year-old Neanderthal may be the earliest evidence of a wooden spear attack (EurekAlert! (University of Cambridge))
- Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibilit (Scientific Reports)
Paper: Evidence for funerary behaviour and lethal trauma in a new Neanderthal individual from Shanidar Cave, Scientific Reports (2026)
Edited by Guiseppe Weijermars
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