The wound that suggests Neanderthals were more violent than previously believed

The wound that suggests Neanderthals were more violent than believedImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, New evidence suggests that Neanderthal societies were more violent than previously thought. Author, Pallab GhoshRole, Science correspondentPublication date, 19 minutesReading time: 5 min A Neanderthal who died 75,000 years ago may have been struck in the chest with a sharpened wooden spear, archaeologists believe. A 15 mm hole found in a shoulder blade in a cave in Iraqi Kurdistan could be the first evidence of lethal violence with a weapon of this kind. The angle of the wound and other evidence lead researchers to believe that the spear entered the individual's chest and passed through the body, probably damaging a lung and major blood vessels, and exited through the left shoulder blade leaving an almost perfect hole. The evidence provided by this research is the latest of the new findings suggesting that Neanderthal societies experienced more violence than previously thought. Neanderthals were a distinct human species that went extinct about 40,000 years ago. They inhabited a large area of Europe and western and central Asia, and at times coexisted with our species, Homo sapiens. The remains of the wounded Neanderthal were found in a cave in Iraqi Kurdistan. In addition to the left shoulder blade, they also found the right hand, three ribs, and some teeth. According to Dr Emma Pomeroy, lead author of the study and a member of the Department of Archaeology at the University of Cambridge, the hole in the shoulder blade could be the oldest evidence of "lethal interpersonal violence" caused by a wooden spear. "The fatal thrust may have been intentional and aimed at the heart," she told BBC News. Skip Most read and continue readingMost readEnd of Most readImage source, University of CambridgeImage caption, Scientists believe a wooden spear caused the hole in this Neanderthal's shoulder blade. An attack by a rival? Archaeologists refer to the remains as Shanidar A, after the cave where they were found. Excavations carried out in the cave in the 1950s uncovered the remains of at least 10 Neanderthals. According to Pomeroy, this wound is believed to be the first evidence of the use of sharpened wooden spears in prehistoric the Middle East. "It is not the type of fracture that occurs naturally, because it is very circular," she explained. "Experiments with reconstructed wooden spears produce very similar round holes in bones." But it is not at all clear that interpersonal violence was the cause, she says. It could be a case of friendly fire or a wound caused as a result of a hunting accident. However, Professor Chris Stringer, of the Natural History Museum in London, who was not involved in the research, told BBC News that an attack by a rival was the most plausible explanation. "The researchers do not clarify whether this was the result of a hunting accident or interpersonal violence, but in my view, the latter seems more likely, given the location and extent of the wound," he said. This discovery recalls an earlier find in the same cave made in 1957. Those remains belonged to another Neanderthal who lived about 50,000 years ago. His ribs showed signs of a partially healed wound, which archaeologists believe was probably caused by a stone-tipped spear. We cannot say for certain whether these Neanderthals were injured by a companion during a hunt or killed by a rival. However, they add to a small but growing body of evidence pointing to the possibility that violence among humans was more common and dates back much earlier than the current scientific consensus suggests. "Unfortunately, I believe the growing body of evidence indicates that interpersonal violence has deep roots in human prehistory," Stringer told BBC News. Image source, BBC Studios/Jamie Simonds/PA WireImage caption, Scientists have used Neanderthal remains to imagine what they might have looked like. The Sima de los Huesos A key piece of evidence for this is a study published in 2022 on very ancient Neanderthal skulls from northern Spain, from an archaeological site known as "the Sima de los Huesos." That study suggests that acts of lethal violence were already occurring about 430,000 years ago. The researchers found evidence of 57 cranial injuries among 20 individuals. Nine had potentially fatal skull fractures. Six had similar puncture wounds on the back left of the head. Since the wounds were repeated in almost the same place, the researchers concluded that they were more likely to be deliberate blows than accidental damage. One skull had two wounds that were probably inflicted with the same object. Image source, César Manso / GettyImage caption, At the Sima de los Huesos, a site in northern Spain, other remains with cranial injuries were found that lead researchers to suspect homicidal practices. The findings from the Sima de los Huesos do not prove that all members of this population were habitually violent, but they provide strong evidence that repeated homicides occurred among these people hundreds of thousands of years ago. For decades, many archaeologists linked the beginnings of organized warfare to agriculture, when people began living in permanent settlements and competing for land, livestock, and food reserves. However, evidence from earlier hunter-gatherers and even more ancient human relatives has shown that individual homicides long predate agriculture. The current scientific debate revolves around the frequency of this type of violence and the point at which sporadic attacks turned into organized conflicts and wars between groups. The research has been published in the journal Scientific Reports. This article was originally written in English and we used an artificial intelligence tool to translate it. A BBC journalist reviewed the text before publication. More information on how we use AI. Download the new BBC World Service app. Choose BBC News Mundo and receive news alerts, documentaries, and analysis, all in one place. Important: the new app is not available in the UK or the United States. You can also follow us on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, X, and our WhatsApp channel. And don't forget to subscribe here to our newsletter to receive a special selection of our best content every Friday.