Neanderthal Children Living 250,000 Years Ago Were Exposed to Lead

Scientists have uncovered evidence of lead exposure in the Neanderthal children who lived 250,000 years ago. This is the first report of the study of hominins and the presence of this species in the past.

Researchers led by Tanya Smith, from Australia's Griffith University, were investigating two infant teeth discovered at the French Neanderthal Payre website. They were looking for something that would have changed in the future.

Children's teeth serve as a useful tool in building up a picture of the environment in which they lived. This is because it is formed every day, and it is supposed to be "growing rings" that contain information about what they are being exposed to in their lives.

In the latest study, published in Science Advances, researchers have uncovered new information about wintertime stress, nursing and weaning practices, and exposure to lead in the environment. Findings shown that one of the Neanderthal children was born in the spring and weaned in the fall of the age of two-and-a-half. These children had periods of sickness and these conditions took place during the colder months.

A 250,000-year-old Neanderthal tooth yields a unprecedented record of the seasons of birth, nursing, illness, and lead exposures over the first three years of this child's life. Tanya Smith & Daniel Green

Both were also exposed to lead as they were growing up – a discovery that surprised Smith. "We've really been aware of humans, exposed to metallurgy," she said. Newsweek. The site where these Neanderthals were discovered is within 15 miles of historic commercial lead mines. While we may not be sure, we may not be able to do so

Lead exposure in children has been linked to cognitive impairment and behavioral problems. "They did not show your disruptions in their teeth," Smith said. "We can not know if these exposures had any effect on their brain development or cognition."

The researchers also compared the Neanderthal to one of the other ancient hominins who lived at the same site around 150,000 years later. This allowed them to compare the climates in which the two species lived. They found the winters the two Neanderthal children lived through to be colder and harsher than that of the later hominin. They also did not find exposure to the lead.

A skull is displayed as part of the Neanderthal exhibition at the Museum of Man in Paris on March 26, 2018. Neanderthals went extinct around 50,000 years ago. STEPHANE OF SAKUTIN / AFP / Getty Images

Archaeologist James Cole, from the UK's University of Brighton, who was not involved in the research, said he said, "the life of the world is very important." The study provides a remarkable insight into the ways of life 250,000 years ago. "That's just astonishing," he told Newsweek. "In addition, the Payre 6 [one of the children] Neanderthal seems to have fallen into the world of the individual episode. "

"Gaining insights into the Neanderthal life history … really helps us to understand where we have come from. "We want to understand the future of our past and future generations."