The story of an ancient jawbone. 90,000 years ago, a man was struck by a sharp object — and was buried

This person lived more than 90,000 years ago. The injury affected the lower jaw and one of the lower teeth, but the bone had begun to heal. This suggests that the person did not die immediately after the injury, but lived for some time afterwards.

The study has been published in *Scientific Reports*.

Details

The remains of Qafzeh 25 come from Qafzeh Cave — an important archaeological site in what is now Israel. Some of the earliest Homo sapiens remains found outside Africa were discovered there. The new analysis focused on an individual estimated to have lived between 92,000 and 145,000 years ago.

The researchers used several methods: visual examination, microscopic analysis and computed tomography. This approach allows them to see not only the surface of the bone but also internal details that cannot be observed with the naked eye.

On the lower jaw and one of the lower premolars, the scientists found a linear injury. Its shape resembles a mark left by a sharp object. There were signs of healing around the wound: the bone had already begun to regenerate following the injury.

What could it have been?

The most intriguing theory is that of a conflict between people. If the wound was indeed caused by a sharp object, this could point to one of the earliest instances of violence in the history of Homo sapiens.

But caution is needed here. It is not possible to reconstruct the entire scene from a single jawbone. Scientists do not know who inflicted the injury, under what circumstances it occurred, or whether it was a deliberate blow. Theoretically, the person could have sustained the injury accidentally — for example, during a fall, whilst hunting, working with materials, or in some other traumatic incident.

Why healing is so important

If the person had died immediately, the bone would not have had time to react to the injury. However, the researchers observed signs of remodelling – the process by which the bone begins to repair itself.

This means that Qafzeh 25 survived the injury. It is impossible to say from this data exactly how long he lived after the injury. But the very fact of healing makes the find particularly significant: what we have here is not simply a mark left by a blow, but a mark left by a blow after which the person continued to live.

For scientists, this raises a broader question: how did early Homo sapiens cope with injuries, illness and vulnerability? Survival following a serious injury does not necessarily prove that the individual was cast out by the group, but it does lend greater credence to the idea of social support.

What else was found on this individual?

The study revealed more than just the injury. Qafzeh 25 was also found to have previously undescribed dental problems: hidden caries on a lower premolar and enamel defects. These details help us understand the stresses and illnesses faced by early Homo sapiens.

This is an important human layer. We often view ancient remains as ‘specimens’ from an evolution textbook. But here, a specific life story is revealed: the individual ate, fell ill, sustained an injury, survived it, and after death was placed in a burial context.

Why do scientists talk about burial?

The authors also re-examined what happened to the body after death. This is known as taphonomic analysis: it helps to understand whether the remains were damaged by predators, whether the body lay on the surface for a long time, whether the bones were moved, and how they were preserved.

According to the study, the damage does not resemble the marks left by predators or prolonged exposure to the open air. The condition of the skeleton is more consistent with deliberate burial. This reinforces the significance of the Kafzeh Cave as one of the key sites for studying the early burial practices of Homo sapiens.

It is precisely the combination of these three features that makes the find so significant: a healed injury, health problems and what is likely to have been an intentional burial.

Why this is important

This jawbone shows that the lives of early Homo sapiens were more complex than the simple ‘hunt – survive – die’ model. Their world may have included conflict, injury, illness, care for the wounded, and ritual practices involving the bodies of the dead.

The study does not prove that 90,000 years ago, people were already waging organised wars. That would be too strong a claim. But it does add rare evidence of possible violence during the Middle Palaeolithic – a period in which such traces are found extremely rarely.

More importantly, the ancient human in this story is not reduced to the dry term ‘fossil specimen’. He suffered trauma, had dental problems, survived an injury, and was probably buried after his death.

Background

The Kafzeh Cave in Israel has long been recognised as one of the most important sites for early Homo sapiens outside Africa. Finds from such sites help us understand how our ancestors dispersed, how they lived in the Levant, and what behaviours were already characteristic of them.

Burials are particularly important to anthropologists. They can reveal not only information about death, but also about social life: attitudes towards the body, memory, the group, and the deceased. However, such conclusions must always be drawn with caution, because after tens of thousands of years it is difficult to distinguish between a deliberate ritual and natural preservation processes.

Injuries are also difficult to interpret. Bone damage may be the result of violence, an accident, hunting, a fall or post-mortem disruption. The value of this new study, therefore, lies in the fact that the authors employed a comprehensive analysis and demonstrated that the injury occurred during the individual’s lifetime, had begun to heal, and was likely inflicted by a sharp object.

Source

Study: Ana Pantoja-Pérez et al., “A taphonomic reassessment of Qafzeh 25 and its implications for violence, health and funerary practices”, Scientific Reports, 2026.