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Lethal wounds on skull may indicate 430,000-year-old murder
PHYS.ORG ^ | 5/27/15 | Nohemi Sala et al

Posted on 05/27/2015 7:01:10 PM PDT by Rebelbase

Lethal wounds identified on a human skull in the Sima de los Huesos, Spain, may indicate one of the first cases of murder in human history, some 430,000 years ago, according to a study published May 27 2015 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Nohemi Sala from Centro Mixto UCM-ISCIII de Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, Spain, and colleagues.

The archeological site, Sima de los Huesos in northern Spain, is located deep within an underground cave system and contains the skeletal remains of at least 28 individuals that date to around 430,000 years ago, during the Middle Pleistocene. The only access to the site is through a 13-meter deep vertical shaft, and how the human bodies arrived there remains a mystery.

A nearly complete skull, Cranium 17 from the Sima de los Huesos, is comprised of 52 cranial fragments recovered during excavations at the site over the last 20 years. This skull shows two penetrating lesions on the frontal bone, above the left eye. Relying on modern forensic techniques, such as contour and trajectory analysis of the traumas, the authors of the study showed that both fractures were likely produced by two separate impacts by the same object, with slightly different trajectories around the time of the individual's death. According to the authors, the injuries are unlikely to be the result of an accidental fall down the vertical shaft. Rather, the type of fracture, their location, and that they appear to have been produced by two blows with the same object lead the authors to interpret them as the result of an act of lethal interpersonal aggression—or what may constitute the earliest case of murder in human history.

Furthermore, if this individual was already dead, the authors found that they were likely carried to the top of the vertical shaft by other humans. The authors suggest that humans were likely responsible for the accumulation of bodies in the Sima de los Huesos, which supports the idea that this site represents early evidence of funerary behavior.


TOPICS: Extended News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: ancientautopsies; ggg; godsgravesglyphs; simadeloshuesos; spain
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To: Rebelbase
I wonder if he was an acquaintance of Cain.
21 posted on 05/27/2015 7:28:32 PM PDT by right way right (Disclaimer: Not a prophet but I have a pretty good record.)
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To: Rebelbase

I bet it was woman related.


22 posted on 05/27/2015 7:29:56 PM PDT by corlorde (Oath Keeper)
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To: Rebelbase

What difference at this point does it make!


23 posted on 05/27/2015 7:35:39 PM PDT by omni-scientist
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To: Rebelbase; corlorde

Someone came home to the cave early from the hunt.


24 posted on 05/27/2015 7:39:06 PM PDT by BBell (Pacifists are the parasites of Freedom)
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To: Rebelbase
Get the cold case people on it. We can't have the victim's family not knowing who murdered him. The murderer's relative needs to be bought to trial. 😊
25 posted on 05/27/2015 7:43:46 PM PDT by ExCTCitizen (I'm ExCTCitizen and I approve this reply. If it does offend Libs, I'm NOT sorry...)
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To: Rebelbase
It was done by a one-armed cave-man...I saw it happen. It wasn't me. The perp was driving a white Jeep.

Also.....it was RACIST...cuz the guy clearly has his arms up and wasn't holding a spear.

26 posted on 05/27/2015 7:44:24 PM PDT by ZinGirl (kids in college....can't afford a tagline right now)
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To: Rebelbase

Perp started the clan of Bushes.


27 posted on 05/27/2015 7:46:56 PM PDT by Night Hides Not (Remember the Alamo! Remember Goliad! Remember Mississippi! My vote is going to Cruz.)
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To: cripplecreek

Did they riot after he was murdered by the police? Or were they humans?


28 posted on 05/27/2015 7:47:43 PM PDT by ExCTCitizen (I'm ExCTCitizen and I approve this reply. If it does offend Libs, I'm NOT sorry...)
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To: Rebelbase

How do they know he didn’t die in combat in a just war?
How do they know he wasn’t a bad guy who died as his victim practiced self-defense?


29 posted on 05/27/2015 7:48:58 PM PDT by expat2
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To: ought-six
Where were you on the night of the murder? 😊
30 posted on 05/27/2015 7:49:13 PM PDT by ExCTCitizen (I'm ExCTCitizen and I approve this reply. If it does offend Libs, I'm NOT sorry...)
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To: Rebelbase

” may indicate one of the first cases of murder in human history, some 430,000 years ago”

Such hyperbole. I suppose the skull was kept because it WAS the first murder victim. < /sarc >


31 posted on 05/27/2015 7:49:23 PM PDT by a fool in paradise (Funny how Hollywood's 'No Nukes' crowd has been silent during Obama's Iranian nuclear negotiations.)
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To: Rebelbase

The deceased was a creepy ‘ass cracker’ who got a beat down, maybe.


32 posted on 05/27/2015 7:50:25 PM PDT by a fool in paradise (Funny how Hollywood's 'No Nukes' crowd has been silent during Obama's Iranian nuclear negotiations.)
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To: omni-scientist

Hillary, is that you??


33 posted on 05/27/2015 7:50:38 PM PDT by ExCTCitizen (I'm ExCTCitizen and I approve this reply. If it does offend Libs, I'm NOT sorry...)
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To: max americana
So it was LIKELY murder? How about LIKELY suicide?

Because the victim was clubbed to death, then thrown in the shaft. How would a suicide have thrown himself down the shaft after clubbing himself to death?

34 posted on 05/27/2015 7:50:43 PM PDT by exDemMom (Current visual of the hole the US continues to dig itself into: http://www.usdebtclock.org/)
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To: Rebelbase

Could be human sacrifice.......


35 posted on 05/27/2015 7:51:35 PM PDT by Red Badger (Man builds a ship in a bottle. God builds a universe in the palm of His hand.............)
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To: a fool in paradise

A grog deal gone bad........


36 posted on 05/27/2015 7:53:07 PM PDT by Red Badger (Man builds a ship in a bottle. God builds a universe in the palm of His hand.............)
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To: Rebelbase

I’m going to go out on a limb here and express my skepticism that this was the first murder case in human history. I’m fairly certain that 430,000 years ago was before humans started to record history.

This makes this the first known *prehistoric* murder.


37 posted on 05/27/2015 7:53:13 PM PDT by exDemMom (Current visual of the hole the US continues to dig itself into: http://www.usdebtclock.org/)
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To: Rebelbase

Or a large toothed animal.


38 posted on 05/27/2015 7:55:18 PM PDT by bgill (CDC site, "we still do not know exactly how people are infected with Ebola")
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To: Rebelbase

Fred Flintstone and Betty Rubble had normal pupils while Barney Rubble and Wilma Flintstone had black, dead eyes like a shark or Raggedy Ann doll.
Pebbles: normal eyes. Bab Bam, jet black marble eyes.
Fred and Betty were drawn to one another. It’s the oldest story in the world. Barney snapped. That’s Fred’s head.


39 posted on 05/27/2015 7:59:29 PM PDT by tumblindice (America's founding fathers: all armed conservatives.)
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To: Rebelbase

40 posted on 05/27/2015 8:04:14 PM PDT by SWAMPSNIPER (The Second Amendment, a Matter of Fact, Not A Matter of Opinion)
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