Oldest Murder Mystery: Skull From 430,000 Years Ago Shows Signs Of Lethal Blows


The world’s oldest murder mystery is still stumping investigators some 430,000 years later.

In Northern Spain archeologists have uncovered a cave filled with early hominid remains, including a Neanderthal skull dubbed Cranium 17 that appears to show signs of foul play.

The cave is at the bottom of a 43-foot vertical shaft, and resting on the ground level were remains of 28 individuals in what appeared to be a communal burial area. Scientists aren’t exactly clear why the remains came to rest there, but they do believe that one of those laid to rest was the world’s oldest murder victim, a person who died from a violent act 430,000 years ago.

Cranium 17’s skull showed two distinct holes above the left eye, ones likely caused by a powerful blow. Researchers say there is no way the Neanderthal could have survived the injuries. And even though the hominid was found at the bottom of a steep drop, they have ruled out an accident as well.

The report, from the scientific journal PLOS One, states,

The present study has established that the individual represented by Cr-17 was already dead before their arrival at the site, and it is possible to rule out an accidental fall as a possible explanation for the arrival of this individual to the SH chamber. The only possible manner by which a deceased individual could have arrived at the SH site is if its cadaver were dropped down the shaft by other hominins. Thus, the interpretation of the SH site as a place where hominins deposited deceased members of their social groups seems to be the most likely scenario to explain the presence of human bodies at the site. This interpretation implies this was a social practice among this group of Middle Pleistocene hominins and may represent the earliest funerary behavior in the human fossil record.

Instead, they believe Cranium 17 is the world’s oldest murder victim, proof that people have been violent even tens of thousands of years before recorded history.

“For sure there has been violence throughout prehistory,” said lead author Nohemi Sala.

“Unfortunately, it is difficult to find evidence in the fossil record, because we have only bones – no soft tissues – and interpersonal violence does not always leave a clear mark on the bone. Cranium 17 is an unusually clear case, like a ‘smoking gun.’ Something like that is not found every day.”

But with the perpetrator also dead for about 430,000 or so, the world’s oldest murder mystery will likely never be solved.

[Image via Javier Trueba / Madrid Scientific Films]

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