Who Killed Skull 17? The 430,000-Year-Old Cold Case

430,000 years ago, someone was hit on the head twice, from the front, with the same weapon. Then their body was carried deep into a cave in Spain and dropped down a 13-metre shaft. Scientists rebuilt the skull from 52 fragments and called it the oldest murder case on Earth. In 2022 they reopened the case. Here are the clues, the suspects, and the twist: the oldest murder may sit inside the oldest funeral. In this case: the Pit of Bones (Sima de los Huesos) at Atapuerca, the early Neanderthals found inside it, Skull 17 and its two matching holes, why a fall, a cave bear and a falling rock were cleared, the right-handed attacker, the 2022 re-analysis of all the skulls, the one red stone hand axe left in the pit, whether humans are born killers (myth on trial, with meerkats), Shanidar 3's rib wound, and why the case is still open. Chapters 0:00 Cold open 0:34 Meet the detectives 1:19 The pit of bones 2:35 Skull 17 4:07 The suspects 5:11 The turn: murder, then a funeral? 6:40 Myth on trial 8:15 Case still open Every video takes weeks of reading papers and checking every claim. If you enjoyed this one, a like, a subscribe and a share (especially to the true-crime fan in your life) keeps the fire going. Thank you. Sources Sala et al. (2015), Lethal interpersonal violence in the Middle Pleistocene, PLOS ONE (Cranium 17) Sala et al. (2022), Taphonomic-forensic analysis of the hominin skulls from the Sima de los Huesos, The Anatomical Record Arsuaga et al. (2014), Neandertal roots: cranial and chronological evidence from Sima de los Huesos, Science Meyer et al. (2016), Nuclear DNA sequences from the Middle Pleistocene Sima de los Huesos hominins, Nature Carbonell & Mosquera (2006), The emergence of a symbolic behaviour: the sepulchral pit of Sima de los Huesos, Comptes Rendus Palevol Gómez et al. (2016), The phylogenetic roots of human lethal violence, Nature Churchill et al. (2009), Shanidar 3 Neandertal rib puncture wound and Paleolithic weaponry, Journal of Human Evolution Lozano et al. (2009), Right handedness of Homo heidelbergensis from Sima de los Huesos, Journal of Human Evolution #ancienthumans #coldcase #truecrime #archaeology #humanhistory