Teeth, ribs, a right hand, and a shoulder blade with a puncture wound 15mm wide. These are all that remain of a Neanderthal man who may give us greater insight into just how violent life was for our human ancestors. Excavated from the Shanidar cave, in Iraqi Kurdistan, archaeologists believe the individual may have died more than 70,000 years ago from a blow by a wooden spear. If so, this would be one of the earliest cases of the tool being used to kill a human.
On analysis of the shoulder blade, its 15mm hole reveals the potential manner in which he died. The circular nature of the perforation, and surrounding fractures in the bone, indicate a stab made to the front left of the body, enough to puncture a lung and several arteries before making it to the shoulder blade. A rapid demise likely followed.
As for the cause of this brutality, it is difficult to say. Wooden spears shaped like modern-day javelins were used in the region to hunt ibex, a wild mountain goat. It is possible a stray shot in the excitement of a hunt may have led to the fatal injury. More intriguing would be an act of aggression.
The location of the wound and the force required to penetrate the chest may tell more of a “kill shot” aimed at the heart, says Emma Pomeroy, one of the archaeologists working at Shanidar, and not “something you do accidentally.” For now, violence between Neanderthal individuals or groups remains difficult to prove, as evidence of inflicted trauma in skeletal finds is rare. This finding will add to that which does exist, and contribute to the ongoing debate on the interpersonal relations between our human ancestors.
Photo by mostafa meraji on Unsplash
