// BBC WORLD NEWS — MONDO
Was Neanderthal life violent? This wound suggests lethal fighting was more common
A wooden spear caused the hole in this Neanderthal shoulder blade, scientists say
A Neanderthal who died 75,000 years ago may have been struck through the chest by a sharpened wooden spear, archaeologists say.
They say a 15mm hole found in a shoulder blade in a cave in Iraqi Kurdistan could be the earliest evidence of lethal violence involving such a weapon.
From the angle of the wound and other evidence, the researchers believe the spear entered the individual's chest and passed through the body - probably damaging a lung and major blood vessels - and exited through the left shoulder blade to leave a near-perfect hole.
The research is the latest in emerging evidence that suggests Neanderthal societies experienced more violence than previously thought.
Neanderthals were a separate species of humans that went extinct around 40,000 years ago. They lived across a large expanse of Europe and western and central Asia, and sometimes overlapped with our species, Homo sapiens.
The wounded Neanderthal's remains were found in a cave in Iraqi Kurdistan. As well as the left shoulder blade, the individual's right hand, three ribs and some teeth were also found.
A hole in the shoulder blade may be the earliest evidence of "lethal interpersonal violence" from a wooden spear, according to Dr Emma Pomeroy, study lead author from Cambridge's Department of Archaeology.
"The fatal strike may have been an intended heart shot," she told BBC News.
Scientists have used Neanderthal remains to imagine what they could have looked like