Care-Worn Fossils
Bones reopen controversy about ancient assistance
By Bruce Bower
Welcome to a messy tale of survival in the face of daunting physical challenges. Its protagonists include a nearly toothless adult of indeterminate sex, a man with a withered arm and one blind eye, a teenage dwarf, and a bunch of apes. No, it’s not a screenplay for the next David Lynch movie–at least, not yet. It’s a scientific inquiry into whether fossils of physically impaired individuals show that our ancient ancestors had a soft spot for the injured and infirm.
The latest chapter in this Stone Age saga began last year with a much-publicized report of a partial Neandertal jaw missing many of its teeth and marred by extensive bone damage (SN: 9/15/01, p. 167: Neandertals show ancient signs of caring). The newly discovered specimen, dated at between 169,000 and 191,000 years old, came from a man or woman who must have endured a mouthful of pain and was unable to chew food for at least 6 months, concluded coauthors Serge Lebel of the University of Quebec in Montreal and Erik Trinkaus of Washington University in St. Louis.