[ad_1]
New research has suggested that Neanderthals were adopting health care practices, such as assistance in cases of serious injury and the challenges of childbirth.
Health care practices in this period of human evolution have often been studied alongside complex cultural behaviors, primarily based on the search for rituals and symbols associated with death. This new study indicates, however, for the first time that health care could have played a more strategic role in Neanderthal's survival.
Previous research at the University had already suggested that compassion and caring for the wounded and dying could have been a factor in the development of health care practices, but further research has now shown that 39, there were also evolutionary factors.
The researchers investigated the skeletal remains of more than 30 people with minor and serious lesions but no loss of life. The samples had several episodes of injury and recovery, suggesting that Neanderthals needed to have developed a well-developed health care system to survive.
Attacks on animals
Penny Spikins, of the Department of Archeology at the University of York, said: "Neanderthals have been threatened in many ways, particularly by large and dangerous animals, but in popular culture, Neanderthals have such a brutal and powerful image that we do not have yet. thought too deeply about their vulnerabilities before now.
"We have evidence of health care going back 1.6 million years, but we think it probably goes back further than that. We wanted to know if the health care provided in the Neanderthal was more than a cultural practice; Was it something they had just done or was it more fundamental in their survival strategies?
"The high level of injuries and recovery from serious illnesses, such as a broken leg, suggests that others must have collaborated with their care and helped not only to relieve the pain, but to fight for their survival so they can recover their health. and actively participate again in the group. "
Serious risk
It is generally accepted that more than 80% of the skeletal remains known to archaeologists have several wounds, some of which may have required simple remedies, such as food and rest, and others that would have required serious care. because of the high risk live.
Neanderthals lived in small groups. Any loss of life was therefore particularly important for the survival of the entire community. The most common threat was disease-related trauma because Neanderthals did not live in the type of environment or in communities large enough to be at high risk for pathogens.
Neanderthal women, however, were at risk of difficulties during delivery. The shape of their pelvis and the size and shape of a child's head were similar to those of modern humans; it is therefore assumed that they would also have encountered common problems during delivery.
"Midwives" of Neanderthal
Dr. Spikins said, "It is likely that they would have had an assisted delivery; the role we now assign to midwives. Without support, they probably would not have survived the balance sheet that the death rate of mothers and babies could have had in their communities.
"When we examine the daily risks and dangers of hunting and foraging, as well as childbirth in their small hunter communities, it is not surprising that they are developing practices to improve health and reduce the risk of mortality.
"We can begin to see health care as a model of significant evolutionary collaborative behavior, along with shared hunting, food sharing, and parenting. In this we can see why the provision of health care to those in need is today such an important part of human life. "
Researchers now aim to expand this work to investigate potential health care methods and determine the extent to which health care practices can be traced.
More information:
Penny Spikins et al, Living to fight another day: the ecological and evolving importance of Neanderthal health care, Quaternary Science Reviews (2018). DOI: 10.1016 / j.quascirev.2018.08.011, dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2018.08.011
New research has suggested that Neanderthals were adopting health care practices, such as assistance in cases of serious injury and the challenges of childbirth.
Health care practices in this period of human evolution have often been studied alongside complex cultural behaviors, primarily based on the search for rituals and symbols associated with death. This new study indicates, however, for the first time that health care could have played a more strategic role in Neanderthal's survival.
Previous research at the University had already suggested that compassion and caring for the wounded and dying could have been a factor in the development of health care practices, but further research has now shown that 39, there were also evolutionary factors.
The researchers investigated the skeletal remains of more than 30 people with minor and serious lesions but no loss of life. The samples had several episodes of injury and recovery, suggesting that Neanderthals needed to have developed a well-developed health care system to survive.
Attacks on animals
Penny Spikins, of the Department of Archeology at the University of York, said: "Neanderthals have been threatened in many ways, particularly by large and dangerous animals, but in popular culture, Neanderthals have such a brutal and powerful image that we do not have yet. thought too deeply about their vulnerabilities before now.
"We have evidence of health care going back 1.6 million years, but we think it probably goes back further than that. We wanted to know if the health care provided in the Neanderthal was more than a cultural practice; Was it something they had just done or was it more fundamental in their survival strategies?
"The high level of injuries and recovery from serious illnesses, such as a broken leg, suggests that others must have collaborated with their care and helped not only to relieve the pain, but to fight for their survival so they can recover their health. and actively participate again in the group. "
Serious risk
It is generally accepted that more than 80% of the skeletal remains known to archaeologists have several wounds, some of which may have required simple remedies, such as food and rest, and others that would have required serious care. because of the high risk live.
Neanderthals lived in small groups. Any loss of life was therefore particularly important for the survival of the entire community. The most common threat was disease-related trauma because Neanderthals did not live in the type of environment or in communities large enough to be at high risk for pathogens.
Neanderthal women, however, were at risk of difficulties during delivery. The shape of their pelvis and the size and shape of a child's head were similar to those of modern humans; it is therefore assumed that they would also have encountered common problems during delivery.
"Midwives" of Neanderthal
Dr. Spikins said, "It is likely that they would have had an assisted delivery; the role we now assign to midwives. Without support, they probably would not have survived the balance sheet that the death rate of mothers and babies could have had in their communities.
"When we examine the daily risks and dangers of hunting and foraging, as well as childbirth in their small hunter communities, it is not surprising that they are developing practices to improve health and reduce the risk of mortality.
"We can begin to see health care as a model of significant evolutionary collaborative behavior, along with shared hunting, food sharing, and parenting. In this we can see why the provision of health care to those in need is today such an important part of human life. "
Researchers now aim to expand this work to investigate potential health care methods and determine the extent to which health care practices can be traced.
More information:
Penny Spikins et al, Living to fight another day: the ecological and evolving importance of Neanderthal health care, Quaternary Science Reviews (2018). DOI: 10.1016 / j.quascirev.2018.08.011, dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2018.08.011
Source link
