A Cambridge-led study of a Neanderthal skeleton called Shanidar A, found in Iraqi Kurdistan, identifies a 15-millimetre hole in the left shoulder blade consistent with a wooden spear piercing the chest. Published in the journal Scientific Reports, the analysis also found a healed facial injury on the same individual, pointing to both violence and care within the group.
Researchers studying a Neanderthal skeleton known as Shanidar A, recovered from Shanidar Cave in Iraqi Kurdistan, say a hole in the shoulder blade is consistent with a fatal strike from a wooden spear roughly 75,000 years ago. The findings, led by Emma Pomeroy of the University of Cambridge's Department of Archaeology, were published in the journal Scientific Reports; Phys.org reported on the study on 15 October 2026.
Who was Shanidar A
Shanidar A is the designation given to an adult male Neanderthal whose remains were recovered in a cluster of at least five individuals inside Shanidar Cave. Cambridge reporting on the study, via Phys.org and Earth.com, puts his age at death at around 45, while ABC News's account of the same study describes him as in his 40s; both figures come from skeletal analysis rather than any written record.
The cave's first Neanderthal skeletons were excavated by Ralph Solecki's team in 1960, according to Earth.com's account of the study. Cambridge-led excavations resumed at the site from 2015 onward, with Shanidar A's remains recovered in further digging that Earth.com reports took place in 2019 and 2022. The surviving bones include a right hand, shoulder blade, rib fragments and worn front teeth.
What the shoulder-blade wound shows
The key piece of evidence is a near-circular hole, about 15 millimetres across, in the left scapula. According to the Cambridge-led team, the shape rules out a stone or flint spear tip, which would leave a flat or angular opening; a sharpened wooden point better matches the rounded hole. ABC News reported that the diameter is comparable to wooden spear shafts known from European sites dated to between roughly 200,000 and 400,000 years ago.
Phys.org's summary of the study describes beveling around the hole typical of an exit wound, with small bone fragments pushed outward in a way the researchers say indicates the weapon travelled downward from above. The researchers conclude the spear entered the front of the chest, passed through the lung and likely major blood vessels, and exited through the shoulder blade — an injury that would have caused rapid death. Examination of the wound margins found no new bone growth, the usual sign of healing, meaning the injury occurred at or very close to the time of death.
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 toward the heart.
— Emma Pomeroy, University of Cambridge, quoted by Phys.org
A second injury: evidence of care
The same skeleton carries a much older injury. One of Shanidar A's lower incisors was split lengthwise, with hardened tartar built up along the broken surface — evidence, according to the research team, that the tooth stayed in place for a long time after the initial blow; Phys.org's account puts this at least a year. Earth.com's coverage cites Pomeroy saying Shanidar A likely needed support from the group with basic needs such as eating while recovering, since the injury would have made eating and speaking difficult.
The researchers describe the two injuries on one skeleton as showing contrasting sides of Neanderthal social life side by side: an act of violence that likely killed him, and an earlier period of apparent group support that let him survive a separate, disabling injury for an extended time.
Two injuries on one skeleton
Injury
Location
Healing status
Researchers' interpretation
Shoulder-blade wound
Left scapula, chest-to-back trajectory
No new bone growth — occurred at/near death
Possible fatal wooden-spear strike, described as an intended "kill shot"
Facial injury
Lower incisor, split lengthwise
Tartar buildup shows tooth stayed in place long after the blow
Suggests survival with group support, at least a year according to Phys.org
What is still unknown
The research team is explicit that the bone evidence cannot say who or what caused the fatal wound. Earth.com quotes Pomeroy saying "whether the spear wound came from a fight or from a hunt gone wrong can't be known from the bone," noting that Neanderthals hunted large animals at close range and that most of their documented injuries are thought to be accidental rather than the result of interpersonal conflict. None of the reports reviewed describe evidence linking modern humans to the injury.
Not every outside expert is convinced the wound points to a spear at all. ABC News cited Sofia Samper Carro of the Australian National University, who was not involved in the study, questioning whether a circular hole in bone is enough on its own to establish the cause of death without additional, more direct evidence of a weapon.
Why it matters
If the interpretation holds, the Cambridge-led team describes the Shanidar A wound as among the earliest documented cases in the hominin fossil record of a lethal injury potentially caused by a wooden spear. Combined with the healed facial injury on the same skeleton, the case is being presented in the published study as rare physical evidence that Neanderthal groups could be capable of both lethal violence and sustained care for an injured member.
Questions
What is Shanidar A?
Shanidar A is the name given to an adult male Neanderthal skeleton, roughly in his 40s to 45 years old at death depending on the source, recovered from a cluster of Neanderthal remains in Shanidar Cave, Iraqi Kurdistan, and dated to about 75,000 years ago.
What evidence suggests he was killed with a spear?
A 15-millimetre circular hole in his left shoulder blade shows beveling typical of an exit wound and bone fragments pushed outward in a downward direction; the rounded shape points to a sharpened wooden spear rather than a stone-tipped one, and the lack of healing around the wound indicates it occurred at or near the time of death.
Could the wound have come from a hunting accident instead of an attack?
The researchers say the bone alone cannot tell the two apart; Neanderthals hunted large animals at close range, where similar injuries could occur accidentally, so the study does not rule out a hunting accident.
Is there evidence other Neanderthals cared for him?
Yes — a separate, older facial injury (a split incisor with tartar buildup) suggests he survived a disabling injury for an extended period, which the study's authors say points to support from the group with tasks such as eating.
Do all scientists agree with the spear-wound interpretation?
No. Sofia Samper Carro of the Australian National University, who was not part of the study, told ABC News that a circular hole in bone alone may not be sufficient to confirm a spear caused the fatal injury.
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