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According to a study published by Erik Trinkaus of the University of Washington and colleagues, abnormal bone growths in the ear canal were surprisingly common among Neanderthals.
External auditory exostoses are dense bone outgrowths that protrude into the auditory canal. In modern humans, this condition is commonly referred to as "swimmer's ear" and is known to correlate with normal exposure to cold water or cold air, although there is also a genetic predisposition to affection.
Such exostoses have been observed in ancient humans, but little research has examined how these conditions could inform our understanding of men's lifestyles in the past.
In this study, Trinkaus and colleagues examined well-preserved atrial canals in the remains of 77 ancient humans, including Neanderthals and early modern Middle to Late Pleistocene men of western Eurasia.
While the first modern human specimens had similar exostosis rates to modern human specimens, this condition was unusually common in Neanderthals. About half of the 23 Neanderthal remains examined had mild to severe exostoses, at least twice as frequent as those seen in almost all other populations studied.
The authors suggest that the most likely explanation for this trend is that these Neanderthals have spent a lot of time collecting resources in aquatic environments. However, the geographic distribution of exostoses observed in Neanderthals does not show a definitive correlation with the proximity of ancient water sources or colder climates, as might be expected.
The authors suggest that several factors have probably been implicated in this high abundance of exostoses, probably including environmental factors as well as genetic predispositions.
Trinkaus adds: "An exceptionally high frequency of external auditory exostoses (bone outgrowths in the auditory canal, swimmer's ear) among Neanderthals, and a more modest level in modern humans of the Upper Upper Palaeolithic at high latitude, indicates a higher frequency of aquatic resources. exploitation between the two groups of human beings than the archaeological register suggests. In particular, it enhances the foraging abilities and resource diversity of Neanderthals. "
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