W hen a person suffers from exostoses one of the bones in the ear canal grows excessively and can become obstructed. This condition commonly known as surfer's ear is caused by repeated contact with cold water or wind which is why it is very common among aquatic athletes. In addition there is also a genetic predisposition to this ailment.
Several investigations have observed this alteration in archaic humans but few studies have examined what information it could provide us about the lifestyle of humans in ancient times.
A new work led by the National Center for Scientific Research CNRS for its CXB Directory acronym in French and the universities of Washington USA and Bordeaux France indicates that this disease was very common among Neanderthals .
It is suspected that Neanderthals spent a lot of time in aquatic environments
The skull of a Neanderthal man with exostosis swimmer's ear
The skull of a Neanderthal man with exostosis swimmer's ear
"Research on Neanderthal fossils has focused on studying their posture a basically racist approach that is concerned only with the purity of our ancestors and only a few of us have been interested in their biology and behavior" Erik Trinkaus explains to Sinc professor emeritus at the University of Washington and lead author of the study published in the journal PLOS ONE .
The scientists examined fossils from human remains including Neanderthals and early modern humans from the Middle and Late Pleistocene of Western Eurasia. The results showed that approximately half of the Neanderthal remains showed exostoses which is almost double that of the rest of the population studied.
The most likely explanation for this pattern being repeated among this species is that they spent a considerable amount of time gathering resources in aquatic environments . However the geographical distribution studied does not maintain a direct relationship with ancient water sources or cold climates. "This implies that Neanderthals were as agile and capable as current humans" says the expert.
Other possible factors that could be involved in the development of the disease would be environmental or genetic predisposition. “This study is a reflection of the ability of Neanderthals to search for food and resources” concludes Trinkaus.
發表於 2024-3-16 14:40:10
