A new analysis of an oddly shaped ear bone found in a cave in Spain suggests a 6-year-old Neanderthal child had Down syndrome.
The ear bone was originally excavated in 1989 at Cova Negra in Xativa, a town in the province of Valencia, Spain. Other Neanderthal remains in the cave have been dated to between 273,000 and 146,000 years ago. However, the bone – a fragment of temporal bone – was mixed in with animal remains and was not identified until recently.
The team used micro-CT (micro-computed tomography) to scan the bones, allowing them to create a 3D digital model of the bone.
The team found that Tina’s ear bones were abnormally shaped, consistent with Down syndrome. She also had other abnormalities such as a smaller cochlea and abnormalities in the lateral semicircular canal (LSC), the shortest of the three ear canals, which can cause severe hearing loss and vertigo.
This is the first known case of Down syndrome in Neanderthals, our closest relatives who lived in Eurasia from about 400,000 to 40,000 years ago.
The fact that the child, nicknamed Tina, had a miserable childhood suggests that the Neanderthal group cared for her well, evidence that Neanderthals were altruistic.
“This child would have required care for at least six years, possibly requiring other group members to assist the mother in caring for the child,” the researchers wrote in a study recently published in the journal Science Advances.