A Hole in a 75,000-Year-Old Shoulder Blade Points to a Wooden Spear, and Perhaps to Neanderthal Care
Cambridge-led researchers say a 15mm hole in a Neanderthal shoulder blade from Shanidar Cave was made by a thrust spear, possibly the earliest such attack known, with signs of earlier care.
Sunday, October 18, 2026/2 min read
The evidence is one round hole, about 15 millimetres across, in the left shoulder blade of a man who died roughly 75,000 years ago in a cave in what is now Iraqi Kurdistan. A team led by the University of Cambridge's Emma Pomeroy argues in Scientific Reports that it is the mark of a wooden spear thrust through his chest.
If they are right, it could be the earliest known interpersonal spear attack in the hominin fossil record, a claim they make with care. The study was published on 15 October.
What did the researchers find at Shanidar Cave?
The remains, named Shanidar A, belong to a Neanderthal of about 45 and were found during excavations at Shanidar Cave that began in 2019, Science News reported. The team removed the shoulder blade with its surrounding sediment and checked whether roots or insects could have caused the damage. They did not match. Bone fragments in the dirt suggested the bone was pierced while the man was alive, and microscope and X-ray analysis showed no healing, so the injury happened around the time of death.
The researchers compared the hole with wounds on fossil animal bones and with wounds made by archaeologists using replica Palaeolithic weapons. Stone-tipped spears usually leave diamond-shaped holes, Science News says, while wooden ones leave round holes.
Was it murder?
The National reports that the team considers deliberate violence the likeliest explanation, with a hunting accident possible but less likely. Graeme Barker, who led the excavation, was more cautious: all that can be known is that the death was violent and came at the end of a wooden spear.
Not every expert is equally measured. Bruno Maureille of the University of Bordeaux, who was not involved, told Science News the weapon was a wooden spear "absolutely, without any question". Libby Cowgill of the University of Missouri noted how rare such visible trauma is, since many fatal injuries leave no mark on bone.
What does the broken tooth say about Neanderthal care?
Shanidar A also had a shattered front tooth. Tartar built up over it, so the facial injury happened at least a year before he died. Pomeroy argues that surviving it would have needed support from the group, though that is a hypothesis. "Behavior is complex," she told Science News, "like us."
The find joins a long file of evidence from the same cave. Archaeology magazine, which also covered the study, notes that an earlier individual, Shanidar 3, who lived about 50,000 years ago, died after a rib injury and also had a degenerative foot disorder that would have needed long-term care. Science News adds that earlier evidence of possible intentional stabbing or beating in hominins reaches back around 430,000 years, which is why the authors frame this as the earliest spear attack, not the earliest violence.
The limits are real: one individual, no spear recovered, and a timing inferred from the absence of healing. The next question is whether other Neanderthal bones in museum drawers carry similar round holes that nobody thought to look for.
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