A 15-millimeter hole in a 75,000-year-old Neanderthal shoulder blade has led researchers to conclude the individual was likely killed by a sharpened wooden spear that pierced the chest and exited through the back. The study, led by Dr. Emma Pomeroy of Cambridge’s Department of Archaeology, examined remains known as Shanidar A, found in a cave in Iraqi Kurdistan, according to the BBC.
Researchers say the trajectory of the wound suggests the weapon entered the chest, damaged a lung and major blood vessels, then exited through the left shoulder blade. The pattern has led to competing theories about how the Neanderthal died and what the injury reveals about violence and care within Neanderthal communities.
The Neanderthal Spear Wound And What It Shows
Shanidar A died around age 45, according to CNN, though researchers could not determine the individual’s sex. Along with the damaged shoulder blade, the remains included a largely complete right hand, several ribs and a handful of teeth.
The size and angle of the hole in the scapula convinced researchers that a spear thrust was responsible. “It is possible the death was a hunting accident, but… the position of the wound and the force required to push it all the way through the Neanderthal’s body bear the hallmarks of an intended kill shot directed towards the heart,” the study’s authors said, according to the BBC.
Pomeroy’s team went further, suggesting the strike may not have been random. “The fatal strike may have been an intended heart shot,” researchers said.
What Remains Uncertain
Not every expert agrees on how the Neanderthal ended up with the wound. Prof. Chris Stringer of the Natural History Museum in London told BBC News he leans toward a different explanation. “An attack by a rival was the more plausible explanation… in my view the latter seems more likely, given the positioning and extent of the wound,” Stringer said.
Whether the injury came from a hunting mishap or a confrontation with another Neanderthal, researchers have not been able to settle definitively. The fact sheet behind the study does not indicate that any weapons or tools were recovered at the site to support either theory directly.
Evidence Of Violence And Care At Shanidar Cave
Shanidar A was not the only Neanderthal from the cave to show signs of trauma. A second individual from the same site, dated to roughly 50,000 years ago and discovered in 1957, had partly healed rib wounds believed to have come from a stone-tipped spear.
Shanidar A also carried evidence of an older injury. A split tooth indicates the individual survived for at least a year, and possibly longer, after that earlier wound. Stringer said that kind of recovery would not have happened alone. “Surviving a blow that splits a tooth in this fashion, then continuing to live and eat for a period of at least a year and maybe more, would have required care and support from other Neanderthals,” he said.
Researchers believe Shanidar A was one of at least five Neanderthal individuals repeatedly brought back to the cave for burial, according to CNN, a pattern suggesting some form of death ritual. At least 10 Neanderthal remains in total were uncovered at the site during excavations in the 1950s.
A Broader Pattern Of Ancient Violence
The Shanidar findings join other evidence suggesting violence was part of Neanderthal and early human life. A 2022 study of skulls from the Pit of Bones site in northern Spain found 57 healed head injuries among 20 individuals who lived around 430,000 years ago. Nine of those fractures were potentially fatal, and six showed puncture wounds suggesting deliberate blows.
Stringer told BBC News the growing record troubles him. “I unfortunately see the growing body of evidence as an indication that interpersonal violence goes deep into human prehistory,” he said.
Researchers studying Shanidar A say the case illustrates two sides of Neanderthal life at once: signs of lethal conflict alongside evidence that injured members of the group received sustained care from others, according to CNN.
No further excavation dates or follow-up studies on Shanidar A have been announced.
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