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IT鈥橲 the coldest of cold cases: a forensic analysis suggests that an ancient human who lived 430,000 years ago died as the result of an attack by an assailant armed with a spear or hand axe. The crime is the earliest evidence of human-on-human violence in the fossil record.
The victim was one of the 28 skeletons discovered in the Sima de los Huesos, or 鈥減it of bones鈥�, cave in northern Spain. The skull has two large holes on the left side of the forehead. Having analysed these, at Complutense University of Madrid, Spain, reckons the injuries were sustained close to the time of death and involved repeated blows from the same object (PLoS One, ).
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鈥淪ince either of these wounds would likely have been lethal, penetrating the brain, the presence of multiple wounds implies a deliberate act,鈥� says Sala.
This article appeared in print under the headline 鈥淐SI Stone Age: first recorded murder鈥�