A human fossil found in Israel is giving researchers what they call the earliest known evidence of a stabbing, offering a rare look at violence among prehistoric people. Scientists studying the remains, known as Qafzeh 25, found a jaw injury consistent with a wound from a sharp object. The case is one of only a handful documented from the Middle Paleolithic period.
The fossil belongs to an archaic modern human found in the Qafzeh cave in Israel. Researchers date the remains to between 92,000 and 145,000 years old.
The study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, was led by scientists from Spain’s National Research Center on Human Evolution, known as CENIEH, working with colleagues from Tel Aviv University.
Violent encounter likely behind the earliest human fossil stabbing wound
The team used microscopic analysis and high-resolution CT scans to examine the skeleton. They found a linear injury on the jaw and one of the lower premolar teeth. The shape of the wound matches damage typically caused by a cutting object. Signs of bone healing show the person survived the injury for some time.
Researchers cannot say for certain how the wound happened. It might have resulted from an accident. But scientists believe a violent encounter with another person is more likely.
Either way, they say the wound adds to a small number of known cases and confirms this human fossil holds one of the earliest known signs of a stabbing.
The study also found new details about the individual’s dental health. Scientists spotted a hidden cavity in a lower premolar, visible only through the CT scan, along with defects in the tooth enamel.
These findings add to what is known about the health of some of the first Homo sapiens populations to have lived outside Africa.
Researcher links discovery to origins of human violence and burial
Researchers also reexamined the entire skeleton to learn what happened to the body after death. They ruled out damage from animal scavengers or long exposure to the elements.
The arrangement of the bones suggests someone deliberately buried the individual, strengthening the case that Qafzeh cave was a key site for early burial practices among Homo sapiens.
Ana Pantoja Pérez, the study’s lead author and a member of the DEATHREVOL research group, said the findings add new evidence to the debate over how complex human behaviors developed.
She pointed to interpersonal violence, care for the sick or injured, and burial customs as key to understanding how human society and culture evolved.
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