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Mikhail Polyakov

A hole in the shoulder blade of a Neanderthal from Shanidar: why scientists think of a wooden spear and what the bones cannot tell us

Level: BeginnerReading time: 5 min

Topics: History, Science

An ancient shoulder blade bone with a small round hole near its edge on dark cloth beside a sharpened wooden stick, with a cave entrance in the background

The short answer: in a Neanderthal buried about 75,000 years ago in Shanidar Cave in present-day Iraq, a round hole about 1.5 centimetres across was found in the left shoulder blade. The study's authors believe it was made by a weapon that entered the chest from the front around the time of death, and that in shape the injury looks more like the mark of a wooden spear than of a stone-tipped spear. Whether it was an accident, for example while hunting, or an attack by another Neanderthal cannot be established from the bones. Below: what was found, what the conclusion rests on and what else the teeth revealed.

Where the news comes from

The paper appeared on 15 October 2026 in the journal Scientific Reports; the first author is paleoanthropologist Emma Pomeroy of the University of Cambridge. I read the Live Science summary (author Kristina Killgrove, 15 October 2026), with quotes from the University of Cambridge statement and from the journalist's correspondence with the scientists. I did not read the scientific paper itself.

Who was found

Shanidar Cave is known for evidence of purposeful burials, which were once thought to be done only by modern humans. The famous "flower burial" at Shanidar was later debunked, but, according to the authors, the cave holds other evidence of repeated Neanderthal burials: so the place meant something to them.

The new find was named Shanidar A. The skeleton was found in 2019 incomplete: a mostly complete right hand, three ribs, six teeth and the left shoulder blade. Because of this, the sex could not be determined. According to the authors, this Neanderthal died violently at about 45 and was buried in the cave.

What is wrong with the shoulder blade

Near the edge of the shoulder blade, a round hole about 1.5 centimetres in diameter was found, together with a round piece of bone punched out of it. The researchers ruled out damage after death, including gnawing by animals and burrowing by insects.

The authors' conclusion in the paper: the hole is best explained by penetrating trauma around the time of death, caused by a projectile or a thrusting weapon such as a spear. In their reconstruction, the spear entered the chest from the front at high speed and pierced the shoulder blade. The shape of the wound, according to them, appears to match the marks from experiments in which wounds were made with wooden spears rather than stone-tipped weapons.

"The position of the wound and the force required to push it right through the Neanderthal's body bear the hallmarks of an intended kill shot directed towards the heart," Pomeroy said in the university's statement. Her co-author, archaeologist Graeme Barker, put it more cautiously: "All we can ever know about the end of this Neanderthal's life is that it was violent, and came at the end of a wooden spear."

What the teeth revealed

The six teeth of Shanidar A are heavily and unusually worn. One front tooth, with a large amount of tartar, split in half during life, and the Neanderthal went on using it for a long time. From the set of teeth, the authors infer a major trauma to the face that broke a lower front tooth and may have injured the jaw.

"Surviving a blow that splits a tooth in this fashion, then continuing to live and eat for a period of at least a year and maybe more, would have required care and support from other Neanderthals," Pomeroy said.

What others say

Archaeologist Rebecca Wragg Sykes, author of the book "Kindred" about Neanderthals, was not involved in the study. In an email to Live Science she called the find an important addition to what is known about Neanderthals. She considers a strike with a wooden spear plausible, but suggests checking another possibility as well: whether such a wound could have been made by the horn of a wild goat, the most intensely hunted species at Shanidar.

Live Science writes that Shanidar A is not the first such find in this cave. In 2009 researchers described Shanidar 3, an elderly man who died about 50,000 years ago, with a deep cut on a rib. It was suggested then that he may have been killed by a stone-tipped spear, possibly thrown by a modern human; this has remained a suggestion. The two finds are 25,000 years apart, and Pomeroy calls them interesting but possibly just a coincidence: according to her, Neanderthals came back to Shanidar for short periods both around 75,000 years ago and around 45,000-50,000 years ago.

What here is fact and what is interpretation

This is my own breakdown, not words from the sources.

  1. Fact. A round hole about 1.5 centimetres across in the shoulder blade and a punched-out piece of bone. Damage after death, according to the authors, is ruled out.
  2. The authors' interpretation. Penetrating trauma around the time of death, most likely a spear that entered from the front; the shape is closer to the mark of a wooden spear.
  3. The strongest wording. "An intended kill shot directed towards the heart" are Pomeroy's words. Live Science also writes that it is unclear whether he died in a clash with another Neanderthal or by accident, for example while hunting.
  4. A separate conclusion. Care from others after the facial injury is inferred from the fact that the Neanderthal used the split tooth for a long time.
  5. Not tested. The goat horn possibility suggested by Wragg Sykes.

How to read news like this. Look in the text for the difference between what is visible on the bone and how it is explained. Here the hole is what is visible, while the spear, its material and especially the intent are explanations, and they come with different degrees of confidence.

Summary

In the shoulder blade of a Neanderthal buried at Shanidar about 75,000 years ago, a hole was found that the authors explain as a spear strike, more probably by a wooden spear judging by its shape. Whether it was an attack or an accident cannot be established from the bones. The teeth of the same Neanderthal point to a severe facial injury after which he lived for at least a year, and the authors see in this a sign of care from others.

See also another piece in this section: Neanderthals and birch tar.

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