Neanderthals would have seemed to have been "in wars"

Our image of prehistoric man as being in good health and fit is wrong because they were often elderly, infirm or children, said a renowned scientist.

Exhibitions in museums showing bloody cave-men are deceiving, although they would have felt like they had been "at war," according to archeological evidence.

Penny Spikins, an archaeologist at York University, told the British Science Festival that of 50 Neanderthal skeletons found around the world, about a third had some kind of disability.

Professor Spikins said, "On the one hand, Neanderthals are in good health because they walk around a lot.

"But the injury rate is very high and there are a lot of famines. Thus, almost every skeleton shows signs of a serious injury or illness simply because of its lifestyle.

"They do not suffer from the sedentary lifestyle that we are, but they also have a difficult life."

"Shanadar Man," a 40- to 50-year-old man found in a cave in Iraq, is an example of a disabled Neanderthal.

He had a withered arm, a withered leg, was blind in one eye and probably deaf.

The remains showed "it was like that for 10 to 15 years and had to be treated by others," said Professor Spikins.

"When it's hard to see what he could have contributed, these societies were very mobile, and survival was difficult, it's obvious that we have periods of famine, but they still support these people."

In France, in Lachapelle aux Saints, there is a Neanderthal man suffering from severe arthritis requiring care for at least six months, which suggests that Neanderthals were "genuinely motivated to care for the vulnerable".

She added, "So the evidence for health care goes back earlier than we thought: 1.5 million years is more than we thought, we looked at Neanderthals and we have more of 17 cases to take care of sick and injured people.

"If you have a group of Neanderthals, would they have been in the wars? Yes, and that's not what we see in the reconstructions, they would all seem to have been in the war, they would be at least 50% of the kids, and they are not there, elderly people.

She added, "Do museums have a duty to begin to reflect society? In some ways, there is a disability problem, we are not comfortable with disability and yet our past is one in which many people have that we would not perceive as a disability, and yet we are not comfortable with that. & # 39;