100,000 years ago, one of the earliest Homo sapiens outside Africa was stabbed in the face, analysis finds
About 100,000 years ago, an early homo sapiens Archaeologists determined that the man was likely slashed in the face with a sharp stone tool and later buried in a cave in what is now Israel. According to the research team, the Stone Age cold case appears to be the earliest evidence of this type of interpersonal violence.
In a study published June 30 in the journal scientific reportThe international team of researchers took a close look at the skull and lower jaw of a man who was deliberately buried in Israel’s Qafzeh Cave during the Middle Paleolithic period.
there were at least 27 people Buried in Qafzeh Cave Between about 145,000 and 92,000 years ago, making them some of the earliest members of our species found outside Africa. Previous analysis of the skeletons, which were excavated between the 1930s and 1970s, showed that they belonged to two people. head injuries As a result of blunt trauma.
But the new analysis, which used microscopic and micro-CT scanning techniques, revealed that Qafzeh, 25, an adult male, had a cut mark on his lower left jaw, which affected his biceps and a portion of his upper jaw. The researchers wrote in the study that the jaw bone showed signs of healing, which showed that the person survived for a long time after being injured.
Archaeologists had previously identified only a few cases of trauma caused by sharp weapons or projectiles in Middle Paleolithic skeletons. Although these injuries may have resulted from hunting accidents, the researchers wrote, they have generally been interpreted as evidence of interpersonal violence.
A cut mark on Qafzeh 25’s jaw was found on the left side of his face, further supporting the idea that the injury was not an accident.
Close-up of the left side of the lower jaw, showing a bite mark near the bicuspid.
(Image credit: Ana Pantoja et al.)
It is not clear what type of tool made the cut mark Stone tools found in Qafzeh This included flint scrapers and sharp points that could be molded into the tip of a spear.
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“Forensic studies of modern human populations have shown that craniofacial injuries resulting from blows to the left side of the head are more frequently observed, a distribution generally thought to reflect the predominance of right-handed attackers in head-on collisions,” the researchers wrote.
If the researchers’ interpretation of the cut marks is correct, it “would represent the earliest documented case of sharp force trauma in the archaeological record,” they wrote.
Qafzeh Cave is already famous in archeology for its clear evidence that early humans buried their dead. New discovery confirms that Early human groups left Africa With a complex culture.
“These results provide new data for the debate on the origins of complex behaviors such as interpersonal violence, care of injured or sick individuals, and funeral practices,” said the study’s first author. Ana Pantoja PerezA paleontologist at Spain’s National Research Center for Human Evolution said in a statement.
Pantoja-Pérez, A., Martín-Francis, L., May, H., Hershkowitz, I., Sala, N. (2026). A taphonomic reassessment of Qafzeh 25 and its implications for violence, health and funerary practices. scientific report. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-58670-0
