ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Archaeologists have identified a possible fatal spear wound in 75,000-year-old Neanderthal remains discovered at Shanidar Cave in the Kurdistan Region's Soran administration, potentially providing the earliest evidence of lethal violence involving a wooden weapon.
Emma Pomeroy, who led the research, said in a study published Thursday, titled “Evidence for funerary behaviour and lethal trauma in a new Neanderthal individual from Shanidar Cave,” that the findings offer rare insight into prehistoric weapon use.
“The nature of the perimortem penetrating traumatic injury adds to a small corpus of such injuries in the hominin fossil record,” the report stated, adding that “the morphology of this scapula perforation is consistent with injury from a wooden spear, providing valuable (albeit indirect) evidence for the use of wooden implements in the Middle Palaeolithic.”
Abdulwahab Sulaiman Hassan, director of the Soran Directorate of Antiquities and Heritage, told reporters Thursday that the discovery is highly significant for the Kurdistan Region and is expected to boost tourism.
“We played a key role… We were with them in the excavation work but we, unfortunately, were not involved in the examination process because the Kurdistan Region does not have advanced technological means. Therefore, the remains are being examined in the UK,” he told Rudaw's Andam Jabar.
Neanderthals, an extinct group of ancient humans who inhabited large parts of Europe and Asia, disappeared around 40,000 years ago. The discovery adds to a growing body of evidence of violence among prehistoric human populations.
Hassan said a national museum would be established to house and display the remains.
He added that genetic research is underway on the remains of another Neanderthal, known as Shanidar Z, and is expected to be completed by the end of 2027, after which the remains will be returned to the Kurdistan Region.
Shanidar Cave, located in the Zagros Mountains, gained international recognition after American anthropologist Ralph Solecki uncovered the remains of several Neanderthals during excavations in the 1950s.
