Scientists Finally Solve the Oldest Murder Mystery

 Scientists Finally Solve the Oldest Murder Mystery

A man died brutally in Japan around 3,000years ago. When archaeologists uncovered his bones, they found almost 800 traumatic lesions on the skeleton. And this wasn’t the worst part, his left hand and right leg were completely missing. Who, or what, would mutilate someone in such a horrible way? Scientists have finally solved the mystery behind this 3,000 year old cold case. 

When the remains of the victim were found, archaeologists named the man Tsukumo Number 24. The bones were radiocarbon dated and it was concluded that the man lived between 1370 and 1010 BC. This was during the Jōmon period of Japanese history. The word Jōmon means 'cord marked' or 'patterned' and comes from the designs on pottery from this period in time. During this period the peoples of Japan were Neolithic hunter-gatherers. 

The body was found near the Seto Inland Sea where there was access to plentiful sources of food from the ocean. The Jōmon period was a nomadic time, however there has been evidence uncovered showing that people were beginning to harvest from the land. The technology used during this period was basic stone and wooden tools. They used knives and axes, along with bows and arrows to hunt. This will be important later on when the analysis of Number 24’s wounds is discussed. When the mutilated skeleton was first found archaeologists didn’t know what to make of it. 

Scientists Finally Solve the Oldest Murder Mystery

At first they thought that the body must have been scavenged by animals after the man had died. But upon further inspection, the remains were found to be undisturbed from their resting place. Whatever happened to Number 24 happened while he was alive. Researchers wondered if this may have been one of the most brutal murders of all time. Unfortunately, murder cases tend to go cold after only a few weeks, and Number 24’s murder had occurred almost 3,000 years ago. 

After scientists examined the bones more thoroughly they were left with more questions than answers. Who could have committed such a gruesome murder? Some of the lesions into the bones were deep, and they couldn’t explain why Number 24 was missing his arm and leg. Was this an act of vengeance? Or maybe there was a vicious creature that had hunted down Number 24 and fed on him before his body was recovered by his people. 

Scientists from Oxford University and Kyoto University have finally uncovered the answer to who it was that killed Number 24, and how they figured it out is crazy. One of the first theories of what happened was that Number 24 had been brutally murdered by another human. Like at all times in human history there was conflict. People in Japan were competing for resources, and there would have been rival settlements around the Seto Inland Sea. 

This doesn’t mean that the different settlements were constantly at war, but it was inevitable that conflict would arise from time to time. As scientists examined the skeleton further it seemed unlikely that the 790 deep serrated lacerations would come from human on human violence. If an enemy stabbed Number 24 790 times, it would show real hatred. This wouldn’t have occurred during a battle because by the time the assailant was finished inflicting that many wounds, the battle would have been long over. 

Along the same lines if this was a crime of passion it still seems unreasonable that someone, or even a group of people, would stab a victim790 times. It also seems unlikely that this was an assassination attempt because although Number 24 was given a burial, it was not a very lavish one. There were no artifacts associated with the burial meaning that Number 24 was probably not wealthy or overly important. 

An assassination of this magnitude on a common person seems highly unlikely. The wounds in the bones themselves were also not consistent with the tools and weapons of the time period, so human conflict could be completely ruled out. And even if it was a human, why would someone take Number 24’s left hand and right leg? It just didn't make sense. All evidence pointed to something else killing the man.  So scientists ruled out homicide. 

Scientists Finally Solve the Oldest Murder Mystery

This meant that the killer must have been an animal. But what type of creature could cause 790serrated gashes into the bones of a fully grown adult human? Number 24’s body, along with other bodies from this period, were found in a community burial ground called the Tsukumo Shell-mound cemetery site. It is important to note that the shell-mound part of the name literally refers to a mound of shells—along with other refuse—that was used to bury the bodies. 

The shells themselves held another clue to what happened to number 24. As scientists continued to study the bones of Number 24, they began to run into some problems. The traditional ways of recording and cataloging the bones, and the damage to them, was done on paper in a two dimensional space. However, Number 24’s wounds were so numerous that this posed a problem for visualizing the remains.

 The researchers on the project needed better technology and a more holistic way of looking at the remains. They decided to use the relatively new technique of 3D scanning. By scanning each individual bone, and then uploading the data into a computer, they could reconstruct the skeleton and more quickly identify the location and size of each puncture in Number 24’s bones. 

When they did this a new picture arose. The scientists were getting closer to discovering what was really responsible for the brutal killing of Number 24. When researchers looked at the skeleton as a whole they could see that the injuries were mostly concentrated on the arms, legs, and the front of the body along the chest and abdomen. 

Also, the lesions were created by something that had serrated edges. They used this information to rule out common l and predators in the region that may have attacked Number 24. But here is where things got really interesting. By the distribution of the perforations on the skeleton, and all of the evidence gathered from the burial, the scientists finally came to a realization. 

They knew who the murderer was. All of the clues pointed to an apex predator. Something that was to be feared and respected. It should come as no surprise that the people along the Seto Inland Sea spent a lot of time in the ocean fishing and gathering resources. In fact, the diet of the people in the regional most certainly consisted mainly of fish and other seafood. 

Since scientists ruled out terrestrial animals and scavengers from being the attackers that killed Number 24, could it have been a predator from the sea? It turns out that this was absolutely the case. The suspect had finally been identified. The murderer was a shark. The serrated edges along the lesions in the bones were consistent with sharks in the area. This means that Number 24 had been killed and torn apart by one, or more, sharks. 

Scientists Finally Solve the Oldest Murder Mystery

Now scientists needed to uncover what type of shark committed the brutal murder, and if it was just a single creature or multiple. 790 perforations to a skeleton is a lot, even though a shark can have hundreds of teeth, so there may have been more than one attacker. Based on the size and shape of the gashes in the bone, scientists narrowed down the shark’s species. The first suspect was the tiger shark. These fish can reach sizes of 16 feet and weigh well over 1,000 pounds. 

They also have row after row of serrated teeth that closely match the lesions on the bones of Number 24. The other suspect is probably the most feared predator on the face of the Earth. It haunts every ocean goer's dreams, and is responsible for the most attacks on humans of any shark. The other possible murderer of Number 24 was the great white shark. This predator can reach lengths of 20 feet and weigh over 4,000 pounds. 

Whether it was the great white or tiger shark that attacked Number 24, it was now clear why the murder was so vicious. Scientists also concluded that it was possible there was a feeding frenzy after the initial attack of Number 24. The amount of bites, and the tearing apart of the body, suggests that after the man was first attacked, multiple other sharks went in for a bite. The feeding frenzy could have been responsible for the loss of Number 24’s left hand and the removal of his right leg. 

From the skeletal analysis scientists found one other gruesome detail to the man’s death. Something that is both shocking and terrifying. All 790 wounds inflicted on Number 24 happened per mortem. This means they happened while Number 24 was still alive. Obviously, it was the shark attack that killed the man, but the fact that all of the injuries happened before he died is a scary one. 

This suggests that the man was swimming in the water when he was attacked, and then other members of the fishing expedition had to pull him out soon after, or while, the shark was feeding on him. It is not out of the realm of possibility that Number 24 was still alive when he was pulled away from the shark. He was probably in a state of shock as blood flowed from the 790 puncture wounds and the stumps where his left hand and right leg used to be. 

It is a gruesome explanation, but it's the one that all the evidence scientists uncovered points to. The reason that the researchers believe the bites all happened while the man was still alive is that there are no signs of healing or injury to living bone. This means that the man had died before his body could repair the wounds or they could degrade further. Therefore, the attack occurred, and death soon followed.  

Scientists Finally Solve the Oldest Murder Mystery

The scientists took the analysis a step further and hypothesized that Number 24 was attacked from underneath while he was at the surface. He was probably bitten in the legs first, and then as he tried to defend himself using his left hand, the shark got hold of it and tore the hand off. After the initial attack, and the loss of his hand, Number 24 most likely passed out from his wounds. 

Somehow the other people out in the water with him were able to pull Number 24 away from the shark. But the fact that the left hand and right leg were missing from the burial suggests that the shark swam away with it in its belly. It is the way that Number 24’s body was buried that allowed scientists to uncover so much information 3,000 years after the man was brutally murdered by the shark. The calcium carbonate in the shells of the burial preserved the bones incredibly well. 

It protected them from decomposition that would have made the analysis of the remains by scientists at Oxford University and Kyoto University impossible. But thanks to modern technology, and the dedication of the scientists who analyzed the remains, this 3,000 year murder mystery has finally been solved. The murderer was a shark, either a tiger or great white. 

Number 24 was alive when the shark attacked him; he lost his left hand and right leg, probably while trying to fight off the shark; and somehow his people were able to recover his body before the creature, or creatures, tore it completely apart and consumed him. This is the first ever recorded case of a shark attack on a human. Now check out “The Most Shocking Unsolved Murders In The World.” Or watch “Do These Things To Survive A Shark Attack.”