Recent scientific research has provided new evidence about a possible reason for the Neanderthals’ extinction around 40,000 years ago, which could be related to differences in parenting approaches between Neanderthals and early Homo sapiens.
The results of the study, conducted by scientists from the University of Tübingen in Germany, are based on an analysis of the enamel of 423 Neanderthal teeth and 444 Paleolithic human teeth.
The researchers noticed horizontal grooves in the enamel, which are signs of early life stress. These stressors include illness, infection, malnutrition and injury, the report said dailymail.co.uk.
Although the total number of such grooves was similar in both species, a significant difference was seen in the age at which these signs of stress appeared.
In Paleolithic human children, enamel damage was more common between the ages of one and three, which coincided with the period when they stopped breastfeeding. At the same time, similar defects appeared in Neanderthals after this period, indicating possible malnutrition later in life.
This finding suggests that early humans’ childcare strategies may include longer periods of feeding and perhaps better food supply after weaning. This approach can help reduce children’s stress levels, increasing their chances of survival.
In contrast, Neanderthals may have stopped eating earlier and experienced poor nutrition after weaning, which may have contributed to higher stress levels in their offspring and resulted in lower long-term population survival.
These findings add an important chapter to the understanding of the complex history of relationships and competition between Neanderthals and early humans, and highlight how important parental care may have been in species survival and adaptation.
