Evidence of interpersonal violence has been documented previously in Pleistocene members
of the genus Homo, but only very rarely has this been posited as the possible manner
of death. Here we report the earliest evidence of lethal interpersonal violence in the hominin
fossil record. Cranium 17 recovered from the Sima de los Huesos Middle Pleistocene site
shows two clear perimortem depression fractures on the frontal bone, interpreted as being
produced by two episodes of localized blunt force trauma. The type of injuries, their location,
the strong similarity of the fractures in shape and size, and the different orientations and implied
trajectories of the two fractures suggest they were produced with the same object in
face-to-face interpersonal conflict. Given that either of the two traumatic events was likely
lethal, the presence of multiple blows implies an intention to kill. This finding shows that the
lethal interpersonal violence is an ancient human behavior and has important implications
for the accumulation of bodies at the site, supporting an anthropic origin.