Were Prehistoric Men empathetic towards their fellow human beings? Many archaeological studies suggest yes. In any case, we know that Neanderthals took care of their wounded and sick. But was this attitude governed by personal interest and the expectation of reciprocity, like a sort of pact between individuals, the caregiver for a day being able to wait to be cared for in turn by the person he had helped? It is a credible theory in a world where injuries, illnesses, and dangers were frequent. There is, however, another hypothesis, which proposes that this social behavior was simply born fromaltruismaltruism, without expectation of reciprocity. Such empathetic behavior would signify the existence of a larger-scale collaborative project, carrying great adaptive valueadaptive value, certainly associated with other complex prosocial behaviors. However, it is difficult to know, based on fossilized remains, which hypothesis is the most likely.
A small bone that reveals pathologies associated with Down syndrome
And yet, a team of researchers could have the answer. In 1989, archaeologists excavating the Cova Negra cave in Spain discovered numerous remains of Neanderthal individuals, dated between 273,000 to 146,000 years ago. Among the exhumed bones, one fragment in particular attracted the attention of researchers who recently looked into this treasure. This is a small bone from theinner earinner ear of a Neanderthal child. So far, one could say, nothing incredible. The analysis of this fragment will, however, reveal a whole section of the social behavior of Neanderthals.
The bone indeed presents certain malformationsmalformations which are characteristic of a congenital disease: trisomy 21. The malformations are such that scientists assume that the child must have been deaf and affected by severe balance disorders. Handicaps which must have made this child totally dependent on adults. A dependence which could have been fatal very quickly, the group not necessarily having the means to permanently take care of this disabled child. However, the study of fossilfossil reveals that he survived until he was 6 years old.
Empathetic, altruistic Neanderthals with complex prosocial behavior
These results, presented in the journal Science Advances, underline two fundamental things: the first is that the care given to the child was necessarily done in a selfless manner, and therefore out of pure altruistic compassion, the adults cannot hope to receive future help from this young individual. The second is that the child’s mother was not able, on her own, to provide for the care of her child for six years, given the active involvement necessary for each adult member for the survival of the group. It appears in fact that the child certainly not only benefited from the special attention of his mother, but also of other adults, or even of the entire group.
This shared assistance added to the attention given to a disabled child who was known to be doomed without the help of the group highlights the complex prosocial behavior possessed by NeanderthalNeanderthal, long before the arrival of Sapiens on its lands. This behavior demonstrates a strong capacity for social adaptation, certainly similar to that ofA wise manA wise man.
