The find suggested that members of the community cared for and looked after the vulnerable child, who lived at least 146,000 years ago. The research is at odds with the image of Neanderthals, ancient human relatives who went extinct around 40,000 years ago, as brutish cavemen. The study did not include precise dating of the bone, which would require extraction of ancient DNA, but Neanderthals occupied the site 146,000 to 273,000 years ago. Study of the fossil revealed abnormalities in the ear bone. “For decades, it has been known that Neanderthals cared for and looked after their vulnerable companions,” Conde-Valverde said.

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Persons: ”, paleoanthropologist Mercedes Conde, Valverde, “, Conde, ” Conde, Mercedes Conde, Julia Diez, Chapelle, Penny Spikins, Spikins, wasn’t Organizations: CNN, University of Alcalá, Syndrome, Valero, University of York Locations: Spain, Spain’s Valencia, Conde, United States, what’s, Iraq, France, United Kingdom