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NEANDERTHAL HEALTH
Neanderthals no doubt lived hard lives. The bones of many adults had healed fractures, particularly in the legs and skull. Some believe they sustained such injuries from battling animals up close.
Elizabeth Kolbert wrote in The New Yorker: “By now, scores of Neanderthal sites have been excavated, from western Spain to central Russia and from Israel to Wales. They give lots of hints about what Neanderthals were like, at least for those inclined to speculate. Neanderthals were extremely tough—this is attested to by the thickness of their bones—and probably capable of beating modern humans to a pulp. They were adept at making stone tools, though they seem to have spent tens of thousands of years making the same tools over and over, with only marginal variation. [Source: Elizabeth Kolbert, The New Yorker, August 15, 2011]
There is some suggestion that Neanderthals didn't wash and may have used herbal ointments. In May 2007 an article published on the website of the newspaper El Pais reported that two molars of a 63,400-year-old Neanderthal indicated that Neanderthals practiced dental hygiene. The teeth, unearthed in the Pinall delValle near Madrid, have “grooves formed by the passage of a pointed object, which confirms the use of a small stick for cleaning the mouth” Prof. Juan Luis Asuanga told Reuters.
Neanderthal Diseases and Ailments
Neanderthals also suffered from a wide range of ailments, including pneumonia and malnourishment. Few survived beyond the age of 30. One Neanderthal studied at El Sidrón cave in Spanish site had a stomach bacteria. It likely caused vomiting or diarrhea.
Elizabeth Kolbert wrote in The New Yorker: ““Neanderthal skeletons very often show evidence of disease or disfigurement. The original Neanderthal, from Mettmann, for example, seems to have suffered and recovered from two serious injuries, one to his head and the other to his left arm. The Neanderthal whose nearly complete skeleton was found in La Chapelle endured, in addition to arthritis, a broken rib and kneecap. Both individuals survived into their fifties, which indicates that Neanderthals had the capacity for collective action, or, if you prefer, empathy. They must—at least sometimes—have cared for their wounded. [Source: Elizabeth Kolbert, The New Yorker, August 15, 2011]
Four of the six adult Neanderthals found in a cave near Shanidar, Iraq, were deformed by disease and injuries. The skeleton of one badly diseased Neanderthal with no teeth and severe arthritis seems to show that Neanderthals took care of their elders. Another suffered severe injuries but lived to the relatively old age of 45, which shows he was cared for as a member of a group, an early sign of social behavior. The ill and injured Neanderthals mentioned above would have had difficulty taking care of themselves. Somebody had to at least feed and protect them while they were recuperating. This is regarded as an indication that Neanderthals took care of the sick and aged.
On research at El Sidrón in Spain, the University of Adelaide and the Spanish National Research Council reported: One of the most surprising finds was a Neanderthal who suffered from a dental abscess visible on the jawbone. The plaque showed that he also had an intestinal parasite that causes acute diarrhoea, so clearly he was quite sick. [Source: University of Adelaide and the Spanish National Research Council, March 9, 2017 **/ ]
Professor Keith Dobney, from the University of Liverpool, said: “Not only can we now access direct evidence of what our ancestors were eating, but differences in diet and lifestyle also seem to be reflected in the commensal bacteria that lived in the mouths of both Neanderthals and modern humans. Major changes in what we eat have, however, significantly altered the balance of these microbial communities over thousands of years, which in turn continue to have fundamental consequences for our own health and well-being. This extraordinary window on the past is providing us with new ways to explore and understand our evolutionary history through the microorganisms that lived in us and with us.”**/
Neanderthals Had Herpes
Some scientists theorize humans gave Neanderthals genital herpes and tapeworm parasites. Paul Jongko wrote in Listverse: “Genital herpes is a sexually transmitted disease that is caused by two types of viruses: herpes simplex type 1 and herpes simplex type 2. In the United States, it is estimated that one in six people from age 14 to 49 suffer from this STD. Contrary to popular belief, genital herpes is not a modern illness. It’s an ancient disease that has plagued mankind for thousands of years. New research suggests that Neanderthals might have suffered from this STD also, and it might have contributed to their extinction. [Source: Paul Jongko, Listverse, May 14, 2016 ]
“Researchers Simon Underdown from Oxford Brookes University and Charlotte Houldcroft of the University of Cambridge concluded that Neanderthals suffered from genital herpes after analyzing pathogen genomes and ancient DNA. They suggested that it was modern humans who gave the dreadful disease to Neanderthals.
“Around 100,000 years ago, humans and Neanderthals started to interact and interbreed with each other. We all carry 2 to 5 percent of Neanderthal DNA as a result of this interbreeding. Aside from genital herpes, researchers also suggest that modern humans gave Neanderthals tapeworms and stomach ulcers.
Neanderthals Got 'Surfer's Ear'
Research published in PLOS One in August 2019 revealed that abnormal bony growths in the ear canal, also called "surfer's ear" and often seen in people who take part in water sports in colder climates, occurred frequently in Neanderthals. The findings seems to suggest they were frequently involved in fishing and gathering seafood. "It reinforces a number of arguments and sources of data to argue for a level of adaptability and flexibility and capability among the Neanderthals, which has been denied them by some people in the field," lead author Erik Trinkaus of Washington University told AFP. [Source: AFP, August 15, 2019]
AFP reported: “That's because in order to be successful at fishing or hunting aquatic mammals, "you have to be able to have a certain minimal level of technology, you need to be able to know when the fish are going to be coming up the rivers or going along the coast — it's a fairly elaborate process," he said.Trinkaus and his colleagues, Sebastien Villotte and Mathilde Samsel from the University of Bordeaux, looked at well-preserved ear canals in the remains of 77 ancient humans including Neanderthals and early Homo sapiens found in Europe and west Asia. While early modern humans had similar frequencies of the bony growths as humans today do, and which are known medically as "external auditory exostoses," the condition was present in about half the 23 Neanderthal remains from 100,000 to 40,000 years ago.
“Exostoses are often asymptomatic but can produce earwax impaction and lead to infections and progressive loss of hearing. Such growths were first noted by French paleontologist Marcellin Boule in a classic 1911 monograph on the Neanderthal skeleton, but were never studied systematically until now. The authors wrote that their finding builds on previous scattered observations of Neanderthals exploiting aquatic resources, though archaeological proof in the form of fish remains are harder to come by because many of the former coastal sites are now underwater.
In 2020, Archaeology magazine reported: Analysis of shell tools from Grotta dei Moscerini suggests that, 100,000 years ago, some Neanderthals were capable of diving for clams in shallow water. While the cave’s Neanderthal inhabitants are known to have collected dead clams on the seashore, the new research indicates that some of the bivalves were harvested live, directly from the seafloor. [Source: Archaeology magazine, May-June 2020]
Neanderthal Medicine
Researchers studying the teeth of Neanderthals in Spain found that they may have used naturally occurring painkillers to ease toothache, eating poplar, a source of aspirin, and had also consumed moldy vegetation including penicillium fungus, source of a natural antibiotic. They also consumed bitter-tasting medicinal plants such as chamomile and yarrow.
Paul Jongko wrote in Listverse: Chamomile is known to calm an upset stomach, while yarrow is used to alleviate toothache. This discovery was significant because eating plants with no nutritional value suggested that Neanderthals possessed a detailed knowledge of their environment—they were more intelligent and resourceful than previously thought.” [Source: Paul Jongko, Listverse, May 14, 2016 ]
According to the University of Adelaide: “Apparently, Neanderthals possessed a good knowledge of medicinal plants and their various anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving properties, and seem to be self-medicating. The use of antibiotics would be very surprising, as this is more than 40,000 years before we developed penicillin. Certainly our findings contrast markedly with the rather simplistic view of our ancient relatives in popular imagination.” [Source: University of Adelaide and the Spanish National Research Council, March 9, 2017 **/]
Use of Medicines by Neanderthals at El Sidrón in Spain
On the teeth plaque of a Neanderthal at El Sidrón in Spain, scientists discovered evidence of the poplar tree, whose bark contains salicylic acid. That's the active ingredient in the painkiller aspirin. They also found signs of a mold called Penicillium rubens that works as a natural stomach reliever. The Los Angeles Times reported: The scientists suspect that this individual did not specifically seek out that exact mold. He seemed to have consumed a wide range of molds. But it does suggest that they may have known that eating mold somehow made them feel better, the scientist added. "When you had a stomachache, maybe you ate moldy grain as a way to try to treat bacterial infections," Laura Weyrich, a scientist at the University of Adelaide in Australia, [Source: Los Angeles Times, March 15, 2017; May 9, 2017]
Archaeology magazine reported: Karen Hardy of the Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies in Spain and Stephen Buckley of the University of York in the United Kingdom used a variety of chemical analyses that helped uncover the first evidence that Neanderthals consumed medicinal plants. The team examined the chemicals embedded in the calcified plaque on the teeth of five Neanderthals dated to between 50,600 and 47,300 years ago from El Sidrón Cave in Spain. The analyses showed that the Neanderthals inhaled wood smoke, probably from a campfire, and that they had eaten cooked plant foods as well as the bitter-tasting medicinal plants chamomile and yarrow. “They had to have a body of knowledge about plants to select yarrow and chamomile,” says Hardy. The same analyses used in this study have the potential to be used on almost any tooth. According to Hardy, they could be used to provide direct evidence of hominin diets going back millions of years. [Source: Zach Zorich, Archaeology magazine, January-February 2013]
Researchers from Spain, the UK and Australia combined pyrolysis gas-chromatography-mass spectrometry with morphological analysis of plant microfossils to identify material trapped in dental calculus (calcified dental plaque) from five Neanderthals from the north Spanish site of El Sidrón. Their results were published in Naturwissenschaften — The Science of Nature. Hardy said:“The varied use of plants we identified suggests that the Neanderthal occupants of El Sidrón had a sophisticated knowledge of their natural surroundings which included the ability to select and use certain plants for their nutritional value and for self-medication. While meat was clearly important, our research points to an even more complex diet than has previously been supposed.”
Earlier research by members of this team had shown that the Neanderthals in El Sidrón had the bitter taste perception gene. Now trapped within dental calculus researchers found molecular evidence that one individual had eaten bitter tasting plants. Dr Stephen Buckley, a Research Fellow at the University of York’s BioArCh research facility, said: “The evidence indicating this individual was eating bitter-tasting plants such as yarrow and camomile with little nutritional value is surprising. We know that Neanderthals would find these plants bitter, so it is likely these plants must have been selected for reasons other than taste.”
Self-Medicating Neanderthal at El Sidrón in Spain
According to the University of Adelaide: “While studies have shown that one of the El Sidrón individuals was a left-handed adult female, one other individual is considered the ‘Star of the Show’ by the project investigators. As previous studies have pointed out, this male individual appears to have used his mouth to sharpen the blades of stone tools (rather like a third hand), leading to chipping on the enamel and dentine on his upper teeth. Now, the study of his dental plaque has brought new and quite unique information to light. “We have evidence that this Neanderthal was self-medicated. We have discovered that the plaque preserved in his teeth contains sequences of the pathogen Enterocytozoon bieneusi which causes gastrointestinal problems, including serious diarrhoea. Additionally, thanks to a hole in his jaw we know he had a dental abscess. Both health issues must have caused him intense pain”, Rosas points out. [Source: University of Adelaide and the Spanish National Research Council, March 9, 2017 **/]
“What is more, this Neanderthal’s dental plaque contains traces of DNA from both the natural antibiotic fungus, penicillium, as well as from poplar, a tree whose bark, roots and leaves contain silicic acid, the active ingredient in well-known medications. This is not the first nod in this direction, given that the researchers at El Sidrón had already taken part in a study which clearly showed that Neanderthals recognised the curative and nutritional properties of some plants, since they took camomile and yarrow, most probably to help digest heavy meals.” **/
Neanderthals Used Toothpicks and Had Healthy Teeth
Paul Jongko wrote in Listverse: “Scientists discovered that Neanderthals knew how to clean their teeth by using toothpicks. This finding was made after 13 Neanderthal skeletons were discovered in the El Sidron cave in Spain and are believed to be at least 49,000 years old. Anita Radini, an archaeologist at the University of York in United Kingdom, and her team examined the teeth of these unearthed skeletons and discovered traces of conifer wood trapped in the dental calculus (fossilized plaque) in some of the teeth. It led them to believe that our extinct cousins had used barks of wood to clean their teeth and to alleviate gum pain. It could also suggest that Neanderthals used their teeth as a “third hand” to hold wooden tools. [Source: Paul Jongko, Listverse, May 14, 2016 ]
“Recently, researchers also found that Neanderthals had healthier teeth compared to their human contemporaries. One study showed that our extinct cousins lost fewer teeth than humans with equivalent diets. Researchers Tim Weaver and Cassandra Gilmore of the University of California Davis compared the teeth of modern humans, Neanderthals, and other primates (such as baboons, orangutans, and chimpanzees). They discovered that it was modern humans who had the worst teeth, and that the Neanderthals kept their teeth longer with fewer cavities.
Archaeology magazine reported: Enhanced imaging of a 46,000-year-old Neanderthal tooth recovered from Stajnia Cave in Poland revealed that the upper premolar had a distinctive groove worn into it. This was likely caused by a thin cylindrical object such as a bone or wooden toothpick that was used repeatedly to clean the area and remove food residue. [Source: Archaeology Magazine, July 2021]
Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons
Text Sources: National Geographic, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Smithsonian magazine, Nature, Scientific American. Live Science, Discover magazine, Discovery News, Ancient Foods ancientfoods.wordpress.com ; Times of London, Natural History magazine, Archaeology magazine, The New Yorker, Time, Newsweek, Reuters, AP, AFP and various books and other publications.
Last updated April 2024