
Spear Wound in Shanidar Cave Points to Oldest Wooden Weapon Attack
A 75,000-year-old Neanderthal skeleton discovered in Iraqi Kurdistan carries what may be the oldest fossil evidence of fatal violence inflicted by a wooden spear. Excavated beneath almost eight metres of rock and sediment, the left shoulder blade of the individual known as Shanidar A preserves a clean circular puncture directed through the chest. The finding, reported in Scientific Reports, suggests that early hominins used pointed wooden projectiles not only for hunting large game but also in deadly interpersonal conflict.
Giovanni Sapere



