Lethal wounds on skull may indicate 430,000-year-old murder

PHYS.ORG ^ | 5/27/15 | Nohemi Sala et al

[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.

[jocon307]

There is no statute of limitations on MURDER.

[Flick Lives]

Very Cold Case Files

[max americana]

“Because the victim was clubbed to death, then thrown in the shaft.”

likely...

[recumbentibus]

Furthermore, if this individual was already dead, the authors found that they (sic) were likely carried to the top of the vertical shaft by other humans.

Pushing the lobby floor button.

[LurkingSince'98]

during the Middle Pleistocene.

Pleistocene - schmeistocene!

[Dallas59]

Or the person may have died in another way and somebody wanted to eat the BRAINS!

[MaxMax]

He was a Homosexual and was dispatched accordingly. And it was 430,001 years ago,
august 15th.

[SecondAmendment]

Obviously caused by government budget cuts passed by spineless Republicans who can’t stand up to the Tea Party.

[uglybiker]

Either that or he was being forced into an arranged marriage to Helen Thomas, who was old and scary lookin’ even back then.

[nonliberal]

Neanderhal Lives Matter

[Ouchthatonehurt]

[publius911]

Lethal wounds on skull may indicate 430,000-year-old murder

It is truly sad that so-called scientists would make such absurd statements.

Unless I missed the memo, the word, or even the concept of murder didn't exist; at least not in any kind of rationally verified way.

Might as well start charging wild creatures of murder, if asinine speculation has replaced the scientific method.

[TigersEye]

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,...

Ah, Blarney! I'll bet someone committed murder 430,000 years before that.

[Squeako]

Two potentially fatal blows to the head and a free fall down a shaft? Sounds like the world’s first Arkancide.

[SunkenCiv]

Owie.

[Rebelbase]

Sounds like a question for Vince Foster.

[SunkenCiv]

Just how old *are* the Amish, anyway? Thanks Rebelbase.

[PLMerite]

Ouch!

Excedrin Headache #1.

[null and void]

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,

[Rebelbase]

Unintentional frontal lobotomy.