A Neanderthal shoulder wound points to a possible wooden spear strike
A circular wound in a Neanderthal shoulder blade from northern Iraq is consistent with a wooden spear strike, a peer-reviewed study finds. The roughly 75,000-year-old remains also add to evidence of repeated body placement in Shanidar Cave. No weapon was recovered, and an accident during hunting remains possible.
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A circular wound survives in a fragile shoulder blade
A roughly 75,000-year-old Neanderthal shoulder blade from Shanidar Cave in Iraqi Kurdistan bears a circular puncture consistent with a wooden spear wound. A peer-reviewed study identifies the remains as Shanidar A. The individual’s hand bones, ribs and teeth were also recovered. Emma Pomeroy, a biological anthropologist at the University of Cambridge, and colleagues examined the injury alongside the position of the remains and surrounding sediment. The damaged shoulder blade provides rare physical evidence of a penetrating injury around death, although no weapon was recovered.[1], [2]
The hole’s shape suggests a wooden point
The opening measures about 15 millimetres across. Its rounded shape and bevelled margins differ from the more angular damage expected from a stone-tipped weapon. Small displaced fragments suggest a downward path through the bone. These traces support the interpretation of penetrating trauma around the time of death, rather than establishing the circumstances of an attack. Pomeroy acknowledges that an accident during close-range spear hunting remains possible. A severe earlier facial injury offers another view of the individual’s life: survival after that injury is interpreted as possible evidence of care from other group members.[1]
Repeated body placement enlarges the burial cluster
Shanidar A brings the minimum number of individuals in the confined burial cluster to five. The remains occupy an area approximately 1.5 metres long, 1 metre wide and 1 metre deep behind a large upright rock. Thin sediment layers between bodies support separate deposition events. Repeated use of the same small location is therefore central to the interpretation of intentional placement. Water later disturbed parts of the assemblage. The attribution of bones to one individual also carries uncertainty, since some elements could belong to others. Emotional attachment, practicality and symbolic meaning remain difficult to separate from the physical evidence.[1]
