It is possible that Neanderthal children had Down syndrome

If the interpretation of the fossilized ear bones is correct, Neanderthal children with Down’s syndrome lived to at least the age of 6. The discovery adds to evidence that, far from being savage and heartless, Neanderthals routinely showed consideration for other members of their society, although researchers disagree about the extent to which children might have needed special attention.

“Neanderthals clearly cared about the people in their group, and this is a really great example of how much they cared.” Penny Spikins He is a researcher at the University of York in the UK, but was not involved in the study.

The Neanderthal fossils were found in the Cova Negra cave near the town of Xativa in eastern Spain, which has been excavated intermittently since the 1920s and reveals that Neanderthals lived there between 273,000 and 146,000 years ago.

Researchers cataloguing the animal remains at Cova Negra Mercedes Conde Valverde Researchers from the University of Alcala in Spain have identified a hominid bone fragment, which cannot be dated precisely because it was found in disturbed sediments, that includes part of the temporal bone at the side and base of the skull, as well as part of the inner ear.

Conde-Valverde and her colleagues used CT scans to create a 3D model of the bone, which allowed them to determine that it was from a Neanderthal, not a modern human: Judging by the state of bone development, the bone belonged to a child at least 6 years old, and possibly no older than 10.

The team found several peculiarities in the development of the inner ear, particularly in the three canals called the semicircular canals that are involved in hearing and balance. One of the canals was abnormally wide. The other connected to an adjacent chamber called the vestibular aqueduct, which is normally separate. What’s more, the cochlea, which is crucial for hearing, was particularly small.

According to Conde Valverde, this combination of characteristics is only seen in people with Down syndrome, a genetic condition in which people have three copies of chromosome 21 instead of the usual two. The condition can cause learning disabilities, hearing and balance problems, and distinctive facial features.

It has probably been around for as long as humans, according to a study of ancient DNA published in February. 6 cases of Down Syndrome They are found in babies and young children, and one of them dates back nearly 5,000 years.

The newly identified child would have needed more care than other Neanderthal children, Conde Valverde said — for example, attacks of dizziness, a symptom of Down syndrome, may have made it difficult for him to get from place to place.

“Maybe mothers need help,” she says, because the increased time required for childcare can take away from other important activities, like finding food, not just for mothers but also for fathers.

Conde Valverde says that other Neanderthals in the group would not have expected the child to be of practical help, so they must have cared for him out of pure compassion.

Sarah Turner A Down syndrome researcher at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada, believes this low expectation isn’t necessarily true: “People with Down syndrome contribute in many different ways to modern human societies,” she says, “and I’m sure that was true in Neanderthal societies as well.”

“There’s a lot of diversity in what counts as a disability and how disabled people are treated in different relationships,” Turner says. “Compassion may be one motivating factor, but without knowing someone’s life and how they were treated and behaved, I don’t think you can say much about how and why they survived.”

Turner has previously studied wild primates. Can survive for a long time Even if they are born with a disability or developmental disorder. This includes: What is thought to be Down SyndromeThe mother survived as long as her older daughter had her help, but died after the daughter gave birth to a baby and was no longer able to help.

This new study: Neanderthal care and compassionFor example, Spikins says, an adult male Neanderthal found in Iraq’s Shanidar Cave had atrophied arms and damaged legs and was “probably deaf and blind in one eye. He lived 10 to 15 years after these injuries, so “he must have been well cared for.”

Both Conde Valverde and Spikins reject the idea that caregiving was carried out in the hope that help would come when the children grew up.

“The idea of analytically thinking about whether someone is going to be productive comes from our society,” Spikins says. The reality is, we evolved to live in close-knit groups, The instinct to care for one another It was very important. People with Down syndrome “tend to be very loving and very outgoing,” she says, “and that’s very important in a small community like this.”