A Neanderthal who died 75,000 years ago may have been struck through the chest by a sharpened wooden spear, according to archaeologists. A 15mm hole found in a shoulder blade in a cave in Iraqi Kurdistan could be the earliest evidence of lethal violence involving such a weapon.
Dr Emma Pomeroy, study lead author from Cambridge's Department of Archaeology, stated that the fatal strike may have been an intended heart shot. Experiments with reconstructed wooden spears are said to produce similar round holes in bone.
While the interpersonal violence is not certain, with a hunting accident being a possibility, Professor Chris Stringer of the Natural History Museum in London suggests an attack by a rival is more plausible given the wound's positioning. This finding adds to a growing body of evidence indicating that human-on-human violence may have been more common and occurred earlier than previously thought.