Evidence for interpersonal violence in the St. Cesaire Neanderthal

Death in the high mountains: Evidence of interpersonal violence during Late Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age at Roc de les Orenetes (Eastern Pyrenees, Spain)

OBJECTIVES

To test a hypothesis on interpersonal violence events during the transition between Chalcolithic and Bronze Age in the Eastern Pyrenees, to contextualize it in Western Europe during that period, and to assess if these marks can be differentiated from secondary funerary treatment.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Metric and non-metric methods were used to estimate the age-at-death and sex of the skeletal remains. Perimortem injuries were observed and analyzed with stereomicroscopy and confocal microscopy.

RESULTS

Among the minimum of 51 individuals documented, at least six people showed evidence of perimortem trauma. All age groups and both sexes are represented in the skeletal sample, but those with violent injuries are predominantly males. Twenty-six bones had 49 injuries, 48 of which involved sharp force trauma on postcranial elements, and one example of blunt force trauma on a cranium. The wounds were mostly located on the upper extremities and ribs, anterior and posterior. Several antemortem lesions were also documented in the assemblage.

DISCUSSION

The perimortem lesions, together with direct dating, suggest that more than one episode of interpersonal violence took place between the Late Chalcolithic and the Early Bronze Age in northeastern Spain. The features of the sharp force trauma indicate that different weapons were used, including sharp metal objects and lithic projectiles. The Roc de les Orenetes assemblage represents a scenario of recurrent lethal confrontation in a high mountain geographic context, representing the evidence of inferred interpersonal violence located at the highest altitude settings in the Pyrenees, at 1836 meters above sea level.

A cranial injury from the earliest Gravettian at the Cro-Magnon rock shelter (Vézère Valley, Dordogne, southwest France)

Discovered over 150 years ago, the early Upper Paleolithic human remains from the Cro-Magnon rock shelter have an iconic status, but because of skeletal commingling after discovery, their bio-profiles remain incomplete and contentious. The defect on the frontal bone of the cranium known as Cro-Magnon 2 has been interpreted as both an antemortem injury and a postmortem (i.e., taphonomic) artifact previously. This contribution considers the cranium in order to clarify the status of the defect on the frontal bone and to situate these remains among others of Pleistocene date with similar types of lesions. The diagnostic criteria used to assess the cranium are drawn from recent publications of actualistic experimental studies of cranial trauma and from those associated with cranial trauma due to violence in forensic anthropological and bioarchaeological contexts. The appearance of the defect and comparison with more recent documented cases from the preantibiotic era suggest that the defect is a result of antemortem trauma with survival for a short period. The location of the lesion on the cranium provides growing evidence for interpersonal aggression in these early modern human groups, and the place of burial also provides insight into related mortuary behavior.

Taphonomic skeletal disturbances in the Sima de los Huesos postcranial remains

The postcranial skeleton of fossil hominins is crucial for reconstructing the processes that occurred between the time of death and the recovery of the bones. Thousands of postcranial skeletal fragments from at least 29 hominin individuals have been recovered from the Sima de los Huesos Middle Pleistocene site in Spain. This study's primary objective is to address the main taphonomic features of the postcranial remains from the Sima de los Huesos sample, including antemortem, perimortem, and postmortem skeletal disturbances. We present an updated assessment of the bone surface modification analysis, the fracture pattern analysis, and the skeletal part representation to facilitate interpretation of the biostratinomic and fossil-diagenetic processes in this large paleoanthropological collection. We conclude that carnivores (probably bears) had limited access to the hominin bones and complete bodies were probably placed in the site.

Possible Causes of Hypertrophic Osteoarthropathy in the La Ferrassie 1 Neanderthal

For over a century, researchers have been perplexed by the unique osteological findings on La Ferrassie 1 (LF1), one of the most complete Neanderthal remains ever found. In 1997, Fennel and Trinkaus proposed that LF1 suffered from hypertrophic osteoarthropathy (HOA), likely secondary to chronic thoracic infection or pulmonary malignancy. This disease process can have many etiologies, and no study has fully explored the possible origin of LF1's HOA. Ultimately, it is most likely that LF1's HOA etiology arose from one of the many infectious diseases that prehistoric Neanderthals were exposed to, specifically a chronic pulmonary RNA virus.

Was it an axe or an adze? A cranial trauma case study from the Late Neolithic - Chalcolithic site of Cova Foradada (Calafell, Spain)

OBJECTIVE

To reconstruct the etiology of a perimortem injury observed on a Neolithic - Chalcolithic cranium (5060 - 4400 yrs cal. BP).

MATERIALS

A cranium of an old adult male individual belonging to a collective burial from Cova Foradada site (Calafell, Tarragona, Spain).

METHODS

The cranium was analyzed macroscopically and microscopically using micro-CT scan.

RESULTS

The fracture on the right parietal bone presents characteristics of perimortem trauma. The morphology of the point of impact allows for the interpretation of this fracture as a result of impact by an object with a straight and sharp edge. In addition, the same cranium presents two healed antemortem injuries.

CONCLUSIONS

The object that most likely caused the cranial fracture was a stone adze. The blow occurred from behind the individual, possibly by a right-handed attacker.

SIGNIFICANCE

The potential to link cranial fractures with specific tools increases our understanding of interpersonal violence during the Neolithic.

LIMITATIONS

It is not possible to infer if this cranial injury was related to a large-scale intergroup confrontation or an intragroup violent event.

SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH

To investigate additional similar sites in the northeastern Iberian Peninsula to better characterize the fracture pattern caused by stone axes and adzes as well as other objects used as weapons during the Neolithic - Chalcolithic ages.

Ectopic maxillary third molar in Early Pleistocene Homo antecessor from Atapuerca-Gran Dolina site (Burgos, Spain)

OBJECTIVES

Here we describe the case of an ectopic maxillary third molar (M³ ), preventing the eruption of the M² , in the individual H3 of the hominin hypodigm of level TD6.2 of the Early Pleistocene site of Gran Dolina (Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The fossil remains from the TD6.2 level of the Gran Dolina site (about 170 specimens) are assigned to Homo antecessor. Different geochronological methods place these hominins in the oxygen isotopic stage 21, between 0.8 and 0.85 million years ago (Ma). The immature individual H3 is represented by an almost complete midface (ATD6-69), preserving various teeth in situ. We used high-resolution microtomograhy (mCT) to investigate the abnormal position of the left M³ , virtually reconstruct M² , and M³ as well as assessing the development stage of these. Finally, we compare this case with extinct and extant populations.

RESULTS

Based on the identified signs, we suggest that individual H3 suffered from a unilateral impaction of the M² as a result of the ectopic position of the developing M³ .

DISCUSSION

We conclude that the most likely etiology for the ectopic position of the M³ is the lack of space in the maxilla. We discuss possible contributing factors, such as morphometric aspects of the maxilla and the early mineralization of the M³ , to support the M² impaction. Finally, due to the early age at death of this individual we did not identify any secondary lesion associated with the M² impaction.

State of the art forensic techniques reveal evidence of interpersonal violence ca. 30,000 years ago

The Cioclovina (Romania) calvaria, dated to ca. 33 cal ka BP and thought to be associated with the Aurignacian lithic industry, is one of the few relatively well preserved representatives of the earliest modern Europeans. Two large fractures on this specimen have been described as taphonomic modifications. Here we used gross and virtual forensic criteria and experimental simulations on synthetic bone models, to investigate their nature. Both forensic trauma pattern analysis and experimental models exclude a postmortem origin for the Cioclovina fractures. Rather, they indicate two incidents of blunt force trauma, the second clearly inflicted with a club-like object. The magnitude and extent of the lesions and the lack of signs of healing indicate a fatal injury. The Upper Paleolithic period is noted for intensified technological innovation, increased symbolic behavior, and cultural complexity. We show that the behavioural repertoire of the earliest modern Europeans also comprised violent inter-personal interactions and murder.

Living on the edge: Was demographic weakness the cause of Neanderthal demise?

The causes of disappearance of the Neanderthals, the only human population living in Europe before the arrival of Homo sapiens, have been debated for decades by the scientific community. Different hypotheses have been advanced to explain this demise, such as cognitive, adaptive and cultural inferiority of Neanderthals. Here, we investigate the disappearance of Neanderthals by examining the extent of demographic changes needed over a period of 10,000 years (yrs) to lead to their extinction. In regard to such fossil populations, we inferred demographic parameters from present day and past hunter-gatherer populations, and from bio-anthropological rules. We used demographic modeling and simulations to identify the set of plausible demographic parameters of the Neanderthal population compatible with the observed dynamics, and to explore the circumstances under which they might have led to the disappearance of Neanderthals. A slight (<4%) but continuous decrease in the fertility rate of younger Neanderthal women could have had a significant impact on these dynamics, and could have precipitated their demise. Our results open the way to non-catastrophic events as plausible explanations for Neanderthal extinction.

The relative roles of maternal survival and inter-personal violence as selection pressures on the persistence of Neanderthal hypercoagulability alleles in modern Europeans

Background: Simonti et al. reported variation in the frequency of Neanderthal alleles found in modern humans and argued that they may have provided an evolutionary advantage. One such allele is SNP rs3917862, associated with hypercoagulability. rs3917862 can be deleterious, but can also help prevent blood loss. Aim: To investigate two possible selective pressure hypotheses for rs3917862 surviving to higher frequencies: deaths from interpersonal violent trauma and childbirth. Subjects and methods: Mortality data from modern hunter-gatherers models the living conditions and causes of death of humans and Neanderthals at the point of admixture. Results: National census data indicates a positive correlation between the presence of rs3917862 and decreased maternal mortality ratios. When the maternal mortality ratio is modelled using GDP, births attended by skilled assistants and the presence of rs3917862, women are 0.1% more likely to die in childbirth in populations lacking rs3917862. Deaths due to violence show no correlation with rs3917862. Conclusion: These findings challenge the idea that Neanderthal admixture has negatively impacted the overall health of modern humans. Maternal survival may have acted as a selective pressure for the persistence of hypercoagulability alleles in modern Europeans. Understanding the role of hypercoagulability in childbirth, and the role of rs3917862, could help to reduce maternal mortality ratios.

The emergence of human warfare: Current perspectives

The origins of warfare have long been of interest for researchers across disciplines. Did our earliest ancestors engage in forms of organized violence that are appropriately viewed as approximations, forms of, or analogs for more recent forms of warfare? Assessed in this article are contrasting views that see warfare as being either a product of more recent human societies or a phenomenon with a much deeper chronology. The article provides an overview of current debates, theories, and methodological approaches, citing literature and data from archaeological, ethnographic, genetic, primatological, and paleoanthropological studies. Synthetic anthropological treatments are needed, especially in efforts to inform debates among nonacademic audiences, because the discipline's approaches are ideally suited to study the origins of warfare. Emphasized is the need to consider possible forms of violence and intergroup aggression within Pleistocene contexts, despite the methodological challenges associated with fragmentary, equivocal, or scarce data. Finally, the review concludes with an argument about the implications of the currently available data. We propose that socially cooperative violence, or "emergent warfare," became possible with the onset of symbolic thought and complex cognition. Viewing emergent warfare as a byproduct of the human capacity for symbolic thought explains how the same capacities for communication and sociality allowed for elaborate peacemaking, conflict resolution, and avoidance. Cultural institutions around war and peace are both made possible by these changes. Accordingly, we suggest that studies on warfare's origins should be tied to research on the advent of cooperation, sociality, and communication.

"It Don't Mean a Thing if It Ain't Got that Swing"- an Alternative Concept for Understanding the Evolution of Dance and Music in Human Beings

The functions of dance and music in human evolution are a mystery. Current research on the evolution of music has mainly focused on its melodic attribute which would have evolved alongside (proto-)language. Instead, we propose an alternative conceptual framework which focuses on the co-evolution of rhythm and dance (R&D) as intertwined aspects of a multimodal phenomenon characterized by the unity of action and perception. Reviewing the current literature from this viewpoint we propose the hypothesis that R&D have co-evolved long before other musical attributes and (proto-)language. Our view is supported by increasing experimental evidence particularly in infants and children: beat is perceived and anticipated already by newborns and rhythm perception depends on body movement. Infants and toddlers spontaneously move to a rhythm irrespective of their cultural background. The impulse to dance may have been prepared by the susceptibility of infants to be soothed by rocking. Conceivable evolutionary functions of R&D include sexual attraction and transmission of mating signals. Social functions include bonding, synchronization of many individuals, appeasement of hostile individuals, and pre- and extra-verbal communication enabling embodied individual and collective memorizing. In many cultures R&D are used for entering trance, a base for shamanism and early religions. Individual benefits of R&D include improvement of body coordination, as well as painkilling, anti-depressive, and anti-boredom effects. Rhythm most likely paved the way for human speech as supported by studies confirming the overlaps between cognitive and neural resources recruited for language and rhythm. In addition, dance encompasses visual and gestural communication. In future studies attention should be paid to which attribute of music is focused on and that the close mutual relation between R&D is taken into account. The possible evolutionary functions of dance deserve more attention.

The massacre mass grave of Schöneck-Kilianstädten reveals new insights into collective violence in Early Neolithic Central Europe

Conflict and warfare are central but also disputed themes in discussions about the European Neolithic. Although a few recent population studies provide broad overviews, only a very limited number of currently known key sites provide precise insights into moments of extreme and mass violence and their impact on Neolithic societies. The massacre sites of Talheim, Germany, and Asparn/Schletz, Austria, have long been the focal points around which hypotheses concerning a final lethal crisis of the first Central European farmers of the Early Neolithic Linearbandkeramik Culture (LBK) have concentrated. With the recently examined LBK mass grave site of Schöneck-Kilianstädten, Germany, we present new conclusive and indisputable evidence for another massacre, adding new data to the discussion of LBK violence patterns. At least 26 individuals were violently killed by blunt force and arrow injuries before being deposited in a commingled mass grave. Although the absence and possible abduction of younger females has been suggested for other sites previously, a new violence-related pattern was identified here: the intentional and systematic breaking of lower limbs. The abundance of the identified perimortem fractures clearly indicates torture and/or mutilation of the victims. The new evidence presented here for unequivocal lethal violence on a large scale is put into perspective for the Early Neolithic of Central Europe and, in conjunction with previous results, indicates that massacres of entire communities were not isolated occurrences but rather were frequent features of the last phases of the LBK.

Lethal interpersonal violence in the Middle Pleistocene

Evidence of interpersonal violence has been documented previously in Pleistocene members of the genus Homo, but only very rarely has this been posited as the possible manner of death. Here we report the earliest evidence of lethal interpersonal violence in the hominin fossil record. Cranium 17 recovered from the Sima de los Huesos Middle Pleistocene site shows two clear perimortem depression fractures on the frontal bone, interpreted as being produced by two episodes of localized blunt force trauma. The type of injuries, their location, the strong similarity of the fractures in shape and size, and the different orientations and implied trajectories of the two fractures suggest they were produced with the same object in face-to-face interpersonal conflict. Given that either of the two traumatic events was likely lethal, the presence of multiple blows implies an intention to kill. This finding shows that the lethal interpersonal violence is an ancient human behavior and has important implications for the accumulation of bodies at the site, supporting an anthropic origin.

Cerebrolysin Asian Pacific trial in acute brain injury and neurorecovery: design and methods

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is one of the leading causes of injury-related death. In the United States alone, an estimated 1.7 million people sustain a TBI each year, and approximately 5.3 million people live with a TBI-related disability. The direct medical costs and indirect costs such as lost productivity of TBIs totaled an estimated $76.5 billion in the U.S. in the year 2000. Improving the limited treatment options for this condition remains challenging. However, recent reports from interdisciplinary working groups (consisting primarily of neurologists, neurosurgeons, neuropsychologists, and biostatisticians) have stated that to improve TBI treatment, important methodological lessons from the past must be taken into account in future clinical research. An evaluation of the neuroprotection intervention studies conducted over the last 30 years has indicated that a limited understanding of the underlying biological concepts and methodological design flaws are the major reasons for the failure of pharmacological agents to demonstrate efficacy. Cerebrolysin is a parenterally-administered neuro-peptide preparation that acts in a manner similar to endogenous neurotrophic factors. Cerebrolysin has a favorable adverse effect profile, and several meta-analyses have suggested that Cerebrolysin is beneficial as a dementia treatment. CAPTAIN is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multi-center, multinational trial of the effects of Cerebrolysin on neuroprotection and neurorecovery after TBI using a multidimensional ensemble of outcome scales. The CAPTAIN trial will be the first TBI trial with a 'true' multidimensional approach based on full outcome scales, while avoiding prior weaknesses, such as loss of information through "dichotomization," or unrealistic assumptions such as "normal distribution."

Earliest cranio-encephalic trauma from the Levantine Middle Palaeolithic: 3D reappraisal of the Qafzeh 11 skull, consequences of pediatric brain damage on individual life condition and social care

The Qafzeh site (Lower Galilee, Israel) has yielded the largest Levantine hominin collection from Middle Palaeolithic layers which were dated to circa 90-100 kyrs BP or to marine isotope stage 5b-c. Within the hominin sample, Qafzeh 11, circa 12-13 yrs old at death, presents a skull lesion previously attributed to a healed trauma. Three dimensional imaging methods allowed us to better explore this lesion which appeared as being a frontal bone depressed fracture, associated with brain damage. Furthermore the endocranial volume, smaller than expected for dental age, supports the hypothesis of a growth delay due to traumatic brain injury. This trauma did not affect the typical human brain morphology pattern of the right frontal and left occipital petalia. It is highly probable that this young individual suffered from personality and neurological troubles directly related to focal cerebral damage. Interestingly this young individual benefited of a unique funerary practice among the south-western Asian burials dated to Middle Palaeolithic.

Antemortem trauma and survival in the late Middle Pleistocene human cranium from Maba, South China

Paleopathological assessment of the late Middle Pleistocene archaic human cranium from Maba, South China, has documented a right frontal squamous exocranially concave and ridged lesion with endocranial protrusion. Differential diagnosis indicates that it resulted from localized blunt force trauma, due to an accident or, more probably, interhuman aggression. As such it joins a small sample of pre-last glacial maximum Pleistocene human remains with probable evidence of humanly induced trauma. Its remodeled condition also indicates survival of a serious pathological condition, a circumstance that is increasingly documented for archaic and modern Homo through the Pleistocene.

A search for principles of disability using experimental impairment of Drosophila melanogaster

The results of life table experiments to determine the effects of artificial impairment (leg amputation) in 7500 Drosophila melanogaster adults revealed that the extent to which life expectancy was reduced in impaired individuals was conditional on: (1) leg location and number amputated--front leg had greatest impact and the number of legs amputated directly correlated with mortality impact; (2) age of amputation--the greatest relative reduction in remaining life expectancy occurred when young flies were impaired; (3) vial orientation--mortality in impaired flies was the least when vials held upside-down (most friendly environment) and the greatest when they were right-side up (least friendly environment); and (4) sex--male mortality was increased more than female mortality in nearly all impairment treatments. These results were used to formulate a set of general principles of disability that would apply not only to humans but to all organisms.