Neanderthal shoulder wound points to wooden spear

Researchers report that a roughly 75,000-year-old Neanderthal from Shanidar Cave had a circular, approximately 15-millimeter hole in the shoulder blade, with fractures and other features consistent with a penetrating injury around the time of death. ^[1]

The researchers say the wound’s shape is consistent with a rounded wooden spear, rather than a stone-tipped weapon, but stress that this is indirect evidence; the injury alone cannot establish how the spear was used or whether it resulted from an accident or interpersonal violence. ^[1]

The remains, named Shanidar A, also add to a cluster of Neanderthal individuals deposited in the cave over multiple events; the study raises the cluster’s minimum count to five and interprets the repeated use of the location as patterned behavior. ^[1] The meaning of that behavior remains difficult to determine, and the authors note that interpretations of Neanderthal funerary practices remain debated. ^[1]