Neanderthal Murder Mystery Reveals a Tale of Violence and Compassion
Researchers say the 15-millimeter shoulder wound and nearby bone fragments point to a wooden spear, suggesting an early interpersonal attack.
- On Thursday, researchers published a study in Scientific Reports suggesting a Neanderthal known as Shanidar A died from a wooden spear attack roughly 75,000 years ago, based on a 15-millimeter hole discovered in the individual's left shoulder blade.
- Excavated in Iraqi Kurdistan's Shanidar Cave, the remains belong to a burial cluster where Neanderthals deposited their dead over generations, offering insight into their symbolic funerary behaviors and complex social lives.
- Lead author Dr. Emma Pomeroy of the University of Cambridge noted the injury's shape matches experimental wooden spear wounds, while earlier dental trauma suggests the individual survived a separate painful injury and received care.
- This find challenges stereotypes of Neanderthals as "unintelligent" or "uncaring," as the remains reflect the "dual nature" of human behavior by juxtaposing evidence of lethal violence with clear indicators of lifelong support.
- Evidence of systematic violence remains rare in deep prehistory, as most known cases date to later settled farming communities rather than hunter-gatherer societies, positioning this discovery as significant to understanding Neanderthal social dynamics.
35 Articles
35 Articles
Neanderthal murder mystery reveals a tale of violence and compassion
By Katie Hunt, CNN (CNN) — Archaeologists have unearthed the remains of a Neanderthal whose life came to a brutal end 75,000 years ago when a sharpened wooden spear plunged into the individual’s chest in one of the earliest known examples of a possible homicide.A neat, circular hole in the hominin’s shoulder blade suggested the
Madrid, 15 Oct (EFE).- The study of the remains of a Neanderthal discovered in an Iraqi Kurdistan cave reveals that he died when he was wounded with a sharp wooden spear, although the investigation revealed much more: before, the individual managed to survive a serious facial trauma thanks to the care of his congeners. [...] The entry Shanidar A, the Neanderthal who survived a trauma, died thrown and was buried was first published in HolaNews.
Channel News Asia
Bones from Iraqi cave hint at violence and compassion in Neanderthals
Oct 15 : The bones of a Neanderthal from a cave in Iraq's Kurdistan region are offering evidence of both violence and compassion in the closest evolutionary cousins of our species, exhibiting a wound apparently from a fatal spear attack as well as signs of an earlier nonfatal injury that may have elicited kindly car
연합뉴스-Yonhap News Agency
korean-vibe.com(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Lee Joo-young = A round hole, believed to have been caused by a wooden spear, was found on the shoulder blade of a Neanderthal who lived in the Middle East about 75,000 years ago...
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