We are also grateful to Martin Novák, Soňa Boriová, and the staff of the Institute of Archaeology of Brno and the Pavlov Archaeological Park for sharing their knowledge and enthusiasm in an unforgettable way. Excellent science, excellent people.
Thank you!
At the foot of this hill lies one of the key landscapes for understanding Upper Paleolithic societies, their funerary practices, and their social complexity.
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To conclude our Czech adventure, we had the opportunity to visit Pavlov and Dolní Věstonice.
Walking on the same ground as mammoth hunters and seeing some of Europe’s most iconic Paleolithic burials is an experience hard to put into words.
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Chancelade-right hand phalanges. 𝘏𝘰𝘮𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘴. Upper Palaeolithic-Magdalenian. Chancelade- Dordogne, France. #FossilFriday
Courtesy of Musée d’Art et Archéologie du Périgord (Périgueux, France)
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In the very best company ✨
Courtesy of Institute of Archaeology Czech Acad Sci, Brno
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What incredible treasures and outstanding professionals this place holds… we’re truly lucky to be here, even if only for a while 💀🦣
Courtesy of Institute of Archaeology Czech Acad Sci, Brno
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Life in the Upper Paleolithic was, without a doubt, incredibly tough, especially out on the Czech loess plains 🥶
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Photo: Formicola, Vincenzo & Pontrandolfi, Antonella & Svoboda, Jiří. (2001). The Upper Paleolithic triple burial of Dolni Vestonice: Pathology and funerary behavior. American journal of physical anthropology. 115. 372-9. 10.1002/ajpa.1093.
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Dolní Věstonice-Triple burial. 𝘏𝘰𝘮𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘴. Late Pleistocene. Gravettian culture. Czech Republic
If you want to learn more about this site, visit its dedicated entry on the interactive map on our website.:
https://deathrevol.com/en/sites/
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Dolní Věstonice II-cranium. 𝘏𝘰𝘮𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘴, Gravettian culture. Czech Republic #FossilFriday
Courtesy of Anthropos Institute, Moravian Museum Brno. Czech Republic
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La Chapelle-aux-Saints 1- skull. 𝘏𝘰𝘮𝘰 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘴. Middle Paleolithic. France #FossilFriday
Courtesy of Musée de l'Homme, Paris @museedelhomme.fr
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What a privilege to be able to study fossils with such extraordinary historical significance.
Huge thanks to P. Semal and the Institute of Natural Sciences for this opportunity 🙏🦴
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Belgium is a key place in human evolution 💀, not only because of the many fossils recovered there, especially Neanderthals, but because some of them are true milestones in the history of our science: La Naulette, Spy, Engis…
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Chancelade-left clavicle. 𝘏𝘰𝘮𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘴. Upper Palaeolithic-Magdalenian. Chancelade- Dordogne, France. #FossilFriday
Coutesy Musée d’Art et Archéologie du Périgord (Périgueux, France)
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Sunghir 1’s death was likely from interpersonal violence, though alternative scenarios.
Early human societies could commit lethal violence and also respond to death with elaborate, structured rituals.
Violence. Care. Death. Memory. Humanity, 30,000 years ago.
A deep, sharp-force incision at the base of the neck affected the first thoracic vertebra.
No healing: this was perimortem.
The cut likely entered above the left clavicle, passed through the lower neck, hitting major blood vessels. Rapid loss of consciousness.
Fatal.
Around 3,000 mammoth ivory beads adorned his clothing, along with arm bands, fox teeth pendants, and other personal ornaments. These objects were part of his life, not just made for burial.
Together, they reveal a highly structured funerary practice and a complex social world.
Sunghir 1’s skeleton is largely complete, making him one of the best-preserved early modern humans from this period. He was unusually old at death: 40–50 years.
His grave was carefully prepared in loess, laid on his back and covered in red ochre.
Sunghir 1 was an adult male who lived between 32,000–24,000 years ago. His remains were found at the Sunghir, near present-day Vladimir, Russia, one of the most important Upper Paleolithic sites in Eurasia.
Excavations since the 1950s revealed rich deposits and multiple burials.
A clean incision. At the base of the neck. No signs of healing.
Sunghir 1 died from a fatal wound. Yet was buried with extraordinary Paleolithic care.
Read more about this new part of the 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘬 series 👇 or 👉 https://deathrevol.com/en/struck_sunghir-1/
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Dolní Věstonice III-mandible. 𝘏𝘰𝘮𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘴. Gravettian culture. Czech Republic #FossilFriday
Courtesy of Anthropos Institute, Moravian Museum Brno. Czech Republic
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Some researchers have suggested that this injury may reflect interactions between Neanderthals and 𝘏𝘰𝘮𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘴 during the Late Pleistocene, though this interpretation remains open to debate.
21.01.2026 09:30 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0A hunting accident cannot be ruled out, but the location and features of the injury make interpersonal violence more likely. If so, Shanidar 3 would be the oldest known Paleolithic individual showing clear evidence of sharp-force trauma.
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By striking animal ribs under different conditions, researchers found that high-energy blows break ribs, while low-energy impacts can leave narrow grooves like the one in Shanidar 3.
This pattern fits a projectile injury that penetrated the rib without major bone damage.
The bone around the groove shows clear signs of healing, indicating that Shanidar 3 survived the injury for some time.
Previous research suggests the wound was caused by a sharp object, a hypothesis tested through experimental studies using replicas of Paleolithic weapons.
One of ribs shows a small but very distinctive wound. On the left ninth rib, there is a narrow, clean groove where something sharp penetrated the bone. The injury is localized and precise: it does not break the rib, nor does it cause widespread damage to the surrounding bone.
21.01.2026 09:30 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0Shanidar 3 was a male Neanderthal who lived between 75,000 and 50,000 years ago. His remains were discovered in Shanidar Cave, in the mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan. Excavated in the late 1950s, his partial skeleton was found buried on his side among large rocks.
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A clean wound. A precise impact. A pierced rib.
Shanidar 3, a new chapter in the 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘬 series, preserves the mark of a blow that may have been inflicted by a projectile.
More details here 👇 and on our blog: https://deathrevol.com/en/struck_shanidar-3/
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One of the earliest documented cases of interpersonal violence in the Paleolithic.
A reminder that some aspects of human behavior run deep in our evolutionary roots.
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Both injuries are located on the left side of the face, above the hat-brim line. According to forensic criteria, this is compatible with a face-to-face violent encounter.
Repeated fatal blows point to an intentional death.
