Neanderthal skeleton in Iraq shows earliest evidence of wooden spear attack
A 75,000-year-old skeleton found in Iraqi Kurdistan displays a fatal wound from a wooden spear, marking the oldest known instance of lethal interpersonal violence among hominins.
Headline and summary written by an AI model from the linked articles; not reviewed by a person. How this was made
The story so far
3 publishers have covered this in 3 articles since 15 Oct 2026. New Scientist published first, on 15 October at 15:00 UTC; BBC Science followed 0 min later. The most recent article, from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories, appeared on 15 October at 15:00 UTC.
Outlets reporting it: New Scientist, BBC Science, Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories.
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How it unfolded
Every source in the order it published.
- New ScientistNeanderthal skeleton found with horrific injuries
- BBC ScienceWas Neanderthal life violent? This wound suggests lethal fighting was more common
- Phys.org - latest science and technology news storiesFatal Neanderthal wound may be earliest evidence of a wooden spear attack on a human ancestor
Sources
Every article we clustered into this story. Headlines link to the publisher.
- Fatal Neanderthal wound may be earliest evidence of a wooden spear attack on a human ancestor Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories
- Was Neanderthal life violent? This wound suggests lethal fighting was more common BBC Science
- Neanderthal skeleton found with horrific injuries New Scientist
In this story
- Neanderthal
- Iraqi Kurdistan