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The not-so-dangerous lives of Neanderthals

Have Neanderthals gained an unfair reputation for having led highly violent lives? A comparison of skulls of Neanderthals and prehistoric humans in Eurasia reveals no evidence of higher levels of trauma in these hominins.
  1. Marta Mirazón Lahr

    1. Marta Mirazón Lahr is in the Department of Archaeology, Leverhulme Centre for Human Evolutionary Studies, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1QH, UK.

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Injuries are part of everyday life, from a scratch on the skin to a broken bone to a fatal trauma. Although many injuries are accidental, others can arise as a consequence of an individual’s or a group’s behaviour, activity or social norms — characteristics that tell us about societies and the inherent tensions and risks within and between different groups. Writing in Nature, Beier et al.1 provide evidence that challenges the long-standing view2 that Neanderthal populations experienced a level of traumatic injuries that was significantly higher than that of humans. The result calls into question claims2,3 that the behaviour and technologies of Neanderthals exposed them to particularly high levels of risk and danger.

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Nature 563, 634-636 (2018)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-018-07343-8

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