An archeological dig in France has produced new findings that indicate that Neanderthals respected and cared for the older members of their group.
The findings were inferred from studying the remains of an elderly Neanderthal man. The remains indicate that the man had trouble walking when he was still alive. In addition to this, the remains also showed that the elderly Neanderthal had already lost most of his teeth at an earlier point in his life. In spite of his condition, his fellow Neanderthals exercised a lot of care in burying the elder member of their group.
The excavation was conducted at a site in France called the La Chapelle-aux-Saints. While the site was first discovered over one hundred years ago in 1908, the initial findings led to an erroneous conclusion that the Neanderthal interred in the site was hunched and deformed. However, researchers have revisited the site and further research has brought to light a new interpretation of the findings in the excavation site. This also confirms other studies conducted in different sites around Europe that Neanderthals indeed revered and respected their elders. The latest report published, was based on an on-site research project spanning 13 years. The report was published at the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences or TPNAS for short.
According to the researchers studying the site, the cave floor underneath the interred elderly Neanderthal was intentionally dug. The burial pit of the Neanderthal was made with clay and limestone. Soft limestone is usually found in naturally occurring deposits in a horizontal orientation. However, the limestone sections under the body were arranged in a vertical orientation leading to the conclusion that other Neanderthals arranged the limestone.
The remains belonged to a man either in his early 40s or late 30s. While this is considered young by today's standards, Neanderthals rarely lived for much longer than that. In addition to this, three more Neanderthal remains were found in the immediate area. However, researchers are still uncertain as to whether the other remains are related to the original elder first found in the site. The remains belonged to an adult and two children.
