Patterns of Trauma among the Neandertals

Abstract

A high frequency of traumatic lesions and post-traumatic degenerative changes have been noted in Neandertal skeletons. To asses the implications of the anatomical distribution of these lesions, we have assigned them to one of seven regions: head/neck, trunk, shoulder/arm, hand, pelvis, leg and foot. The resultant distributions, both including and deleting injuries indicated only by post-traumatic degenerations and from Shanidar 1, were compared to anatomical lesion distributions for three Recent human archaeological samples (Bt-5, Libben and a pooled Nubian one), three modern clinical samples (late 20th century Albuquerque, early 20th century London and late 19th century New York City), and a specialized athletic sample (North American Rodeo performers). The majority of the Neandertal samples (as adjusted) are highly significantly different from the six normal Recent human samples, with only the most trimmed Neandertal sample being non-significantly different from the New York sample. However, all of the Neandertal distributions provide a close match to the Rodeo traumatic lesion pattern, primarily as a result of a high incidence of head & neck trauma. Although small sample size, preservation and a dearth of older individuals with inhibited mobility may contribute to the Neandertal lesion distribution, the similarity to the Rodeo lesion distribution suggests frequent close encounters with large ungulates unkindly disposed to the humans involved.