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It was revealed that the fossilized ear bone found in a cave in Spain belonged to a Neanderthal child who lived with Down syndrome until the age of 6.
The findings suggested that community members cared for and cared for the vulnerable child, who lived at least 146,000 years ago. The research contradicts the image of Neanderthals as wild cavemen, ancient human relatives who went extinct about 40,000 years ago.
“The individual needed constant and intensive care,” said paleoanthropologist Mercedes Conde-Valverde, lead author of the study on the bone published Wednesday in the journal Science Advances.
Conde-Valverde, an assistant professor of physical anthropology at the University of Alcalá in Spain, explained that the child “suffers severe hearing loss, severe balance problems and dizziness.”
He added that muscle weakness can also make breastfeeding and movement difficult.
The tiny fossil was unearthed from the archaeological site of Cova Negra in the Spanish province of Valencia in 1989. However, archaeologists only discovered this specimen recently when they combed through faunal fragments collected at the site during examination of the material.
“We were able to identify it as a Neanderthal because of the unique proportions of the semicircular canals that are characteristic of Neanderthals,” Conde-Valverde said, referring to the inner tubes of the ear.
The study did not include precise dating of the bone, which would require extracting ancient DNA, but Neanderthals occupied the area between 146,000 and 273,000 years ago. The research team did not determine the gender of the young Neanderthal.
An astonishing lifespan
Conde-Valverde said that people with Down syndrome can live long lives today, but it is surprising that a child lives beyond the age of 6.
Life in the Stone Age would have been difficult. The study noted that Neanderthals were highly mobile and regularly moved from place to place. The care required for the child’s long-term survival likely involved the mother relying on the cooperation and support of other members of the group.
Even in the recent past, it was common for people with Down syndrome to die in childhood. Life expectancy for children with Down syndrome, a condition caused by an extra partial or full chromosome, was 9 years in 1929, according to research. By the 1940s, life expectancy increased to 12 years.
Today, approximately 1 in 772 babies in the United States are born with Down syndrome, and life expectancy now exceeds 60 years, according to the National Down Syndrome Association in the United States.
The earliest known case of Down syndrome in our own species, Homo sapiens, dates back at least 5,300 years. Authors of a study published in February identified six cases in prehistoric populations using ancient DNA. None of the children lived beyond 16 months.
Down syndrome has also been documented in chimpanzees. A January 2016 study noted that a chimpanzee with Down syndrome survived for up to 23 months thanks to the care provided by his mother, with the help of her eldest daughter.
However, the study stated that when she stopped helping to care for her daughter, the mother was unable to provide the necessary care and the child died.
abnormalities in the inner ear
Conde-Valverde and colleagues believe the bone belongs to a child with Down syndrome because of a number of abnormalities in the structure of the inner ear.
These include the abnormal shape of the lateral semicircular canal (the shortest ear canal); an enlarged vestibular aqueduct, a narrow, bony canal leading from the inner ear deep into the skull, and a reduction in the overall size of the cochlear bony chamber.
“Some of these pathologies commonly occur in various syndromes, but the present combination in the Cova Negra fossil has only been identified in contemporary humans with Down syndrome,” he said.
He said conclusive evidence that the child had Down syndrome would require extracting ancient DNA from the fossil, but that was not yet possible.
Past studies of archaeological finds have suggested that Neanderthals cared for vulnerable members of their group.
A Neanderthal man buried in Shanidar Cave in what is now Iraq was deaf and likely had a paralyzing arm and head injury that left him partially blind, but he still lived for a long time, according to an October 2017 study.
A Neanderthal skeleton known as the “Old Man of La Chapelle” unearthed in present-day central France had degenerative arthritis and may have been fed by other members of the group, according to a February 2019 study.
One child was cared for ‘like any other’
Conde-Valverde said the discovery of the Cova Negra fossil supports the existence of true altruism among Neanderthals.
“It has been known for decades that Neanderthals cared for and looked out for their defenseless companions,” Conde-Valverde said.
“However, all known cases of grooming involved adult individuals, leading some scientists to believe that this behavior was merely an exchange of assistance between equals and not true altruism,” he said.
“What was unknown until now was a case of an individual receiving non-maternal care from birth, even though it was gratuitous.”
Penny Spikins, a professor of archaeology at the University of York in the United Kingdom and author of “Hidden Depths: The Origins of Human Connection,” said most parents today do not view childcare as “an expectation of reciprocity,” and that was unlikely to have been the case among Neanderthals.
Spikins, who was not involved in the research, said humans likely developed an instinctive and emotional response to caring for babies to ensure their survival.
“This finding reveals how similar Neanderthals were to us in many ways, especially in humanity’s shared desire to care for the vulnerable.” said.
“We can imagine that this child is loved and cared for like any other.”
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