Shanidar A is a roughly 75,000-year-old adult Neanderthal from Shanidar Cave in Iraqi Kurdistan. Cambridge archaeologists report a ~15 mm circular hole in the left scapula with radial fractures and displaced bone fragments that fit an exit wound: a wooden spear likely entered the chest from the front, passed through lung and major vessels, and punched out through the shoulder blade, causing rapid death.
The round perforation matches experimental wooden-spear wounds better than stone points, which tend to leave flatter or angular holes. Researchers say it may be the earliest known lethal wooden-spear injury in the hominin fossil record; a hunting accident remains possible, but the trajectory and force also fit an intended “heart shot.” Shanidar A had also survived a severe facial injury at least a year earlier, which the team argues required care from others.
Source: University of Cambridge — Fatal Neanderthal wound may be earliest evidence of a wooden spear attack