This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: A round hole in the shoulder blade (scapula) of a Neanderthal whose partial remains were unearthed in a cave in Iraqi Kurdistan may be the earliest known example of lethal interpersonal violence with a wooden spear in the hominin fossil record. The Neanderthal's scapula—a broad, flat bone so thin in places it becomes almost translucent when held up to light—was preserved almost intact under 7.5 meters (25 feet) of rock and sediment for around 75,000 years.
Intact, that is, apart from the 15mm-wide circular perforation, which Cambridge archaeologists who led the excavation say was made by a spear of sharpened wood, as a spear tip of flint or stone would leave a flat or angular hole. The spear penetrated the left chest cavity from the front and traveled through the body—including the lung and likely major arteries—before punching a hole in the left scapula, causing rapid death. Researchers think the fatal strike may have been an intended "heart shot." Beveling around the hole is typical of an exit wound.
The team found tiny shards of bone displaced by the weapon, the position of which suggests a spear entered from above at a downward trajectory. They were even able to piece back part of the hole using these fragments, guided by faint ridges where the bone was marked by muscle. "It's extraordinary to have a perfectly preserved scapula from 75,000 years ago.
These bones are so thin that you often don't get complete scapulae from modern burials," said Dr. Emma Pomeroy, study lead author from Cambridge's Department of Archaeology. "We were able to lift it out in one piece from under almost 8 meters (26 feet) of rock and sediment." Archaeologists call the remains Shanidar A, named for the famous cave in which they were found, and have published their findings in the journal Scientific Reports.
Due to decomposition, very few wooden objects survive from deep in prehistory. Some waterlogged examples of spears dated to around 200,000 years ago—when early Neanderthals roamed Europe—were found in Schöningen, Germany, in the 1990s. These preserved spears—some over 2 meters (6.6 feet) long—were manufactured from carefully selected timber to have weight distribution optimized for throwing, like modern javelins, and were probably used for hunting large game.
The earliest known rounded wooden spear is over 400,000 years old. Just the pointed end survived, pulled from the UK shoreline at Clacton-on-Sea in 1911. Similar technology may well have caused the death of Shanidar A, argue researchers.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
