Neandertal skeleton from Iraq shows wooden spear wound and healed facial injury

Archaeologists digging at Shanidar, a famed Neandertal burial ground in Iraqi Kurdistan, have identified bones from at least three previously unknown individuals, one of which they named Shanidar A and dated to roughly 75,000 years ago. The shoulder blade of this individual features a perfectly round perforation that experimental replication with Paleolithic weapons attributes to a wooden spear, and microscopic analysis found no healing, suggesting the wound was inflicted at or shortly after death.

Alongside the scapula, a severely fractured incisor was recovered; tartar buildup indicates the tooth broke long before the individual died, meaning they lived with a painful facial injury for an extended period. The authors argue that surviving such a disability would have required care from group members, pointing to cooperative social practices among Neandertals. This discovery adds to a growing record of trauma on ancient hominins, including earlier evidence of stabbing and blunt-force injuries dating back hundreds of thousands of years.

Independent experts, such as Libby Cowgill, note that many lethal events leave no skeletal trace, making this specimen especially informative. The findings were published in Scientific Reports.