Ancient jaw reveals stone blade attack and survival
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Researchers studying a fossil jaw from Qafzeh Cave in Israel determined a man who lived roughly 100,000 years ago survived a severe cut to his jaw inflicted by a sharp stone tool.
The team examined remains excavated in 1979, using high-resolution scans to reveal a deep groove on the lower jaw consistent with a blade. Bone remodeling around the wound indicated the man lived long enough for the injury to begin healing.
The Qafzeh Cave has been a key site for understanding human origins, yielding remains of at least 27 early Homo sapiens buried between 145,000 and 92,000 years ago. These people demonstrated complex behaviors, including deliberate burials and the use of ornaments. The wound on the jaw, located on the left side, aligns with patterns seen in modern forensic studies of face-to-face attacks by right-handed individuals.
While researchers cannot confirm the cause of the injury, they suggest interpersonal violence is a strong possibility. They also discovered the man had a cavity in a premolar, an unusual finding for Paleolithic populations that may reflect diet or environmental factors. The careful burial of Qafzeh 25, with no signs of scavenging, suggests the group protected his body after death and provides further evidence of their burial practices.
