Anonim
Computer-assisted reconstruction of the Neanderthal skeleton shows cranial trauma, probably the result of a blow from a sharp tool or weapon.
New evidence of violence among Neanderthals?
April 23, 2002 Posted: 9:51 AM EDT (1351 GMT)
WASHINGTON (AP) -- It was a face-to-face showdown 36,000 years ago, maybe over food, maybe a woman. It ended suddenly, when a sharp stone weapon smacked down on the head of a Neanderthal.
The victim is under study by a team of Swiss and French scientists, who have used computer imaging to help reconstruct the ancient skull.
They believe the blow was struck by someone in the victim's own group and, because the injury was partially healed, that he was nursed by friends after the confrontation.
It is one of only a few known cases of the use of weapons by Neanderthals against one another.
The researchers' conclusions about the skull, found near the village of St. Cesaire in France, are reported in Tuesday's issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Violence is not unusual within groups of primates, including modern humans. Because the population was sparse at the time, the researchers believe this incident involved two people within the same group.
"When you look at crime statistics today, the vast majority of all crimes are between people who know each other, ... and I don't see any reason to question that in the past," said Milford Wolpoff, an anthropologist at the University of Michigan.
Anthropologist Erik Trinkaus of Washington University in St. Louis added: "As weaponry for hunting improves, the stakes of having an argument with somebody increase. Like all social mammals, Neanderthals had their squabbles, and if you have effective weaponry around you've got a more serious problem."
The European team, led by Christoph Zollikofer of the University of Zurich-Irchel, found that the wound had begun to heal, indicating that somebody helped nurse the victim.
"There are two themes that come out of this. When they are injured by somebody else or an animal or accident, they are getting helped by other members of the social group. We see clear survival here," said Trinkaus.
Wolpoff added: "We always focus on the violence that created the wound, but what's great is the compassion and care that lead to the healing."
Similar to a machete
Neanderthals flourished in Europe and the Middle East from about 100,000 years ago until they were replaced by early modern humans about 35,000 years ago.
Many of their remains show injuries, but previous fractures differed from the St. Cesaire skull in that it was cut by a sharp blade, probably on a handle.
It's not unlike the type of injuries encountered in sword fights, Trinkaus commented. He said the best modern comparison would be a stone weapon approximating a machete.
The location and angle of the cut indicate that the victim was facing his attacker, though he might have been struck from behind, Zollikofer's team reported.
The researchers noted one previous find of a Neanderthal injury that obviously had been made by a weapon. That one was caused by a sharp point -- either a spear or arrow -- that penetrated the ribs.
Wolpoff said that in his research on Neanderthals in what is now Croatia he has seen at least five fossils with these kinds of injuries.
Krzysztof Piekarz
