Author: Reuters
Publications: The Indian Express
Dated: September 12, 2001
EARLY humans were willing to lend
a helping hand - or at least some mushy deer meat - to assist elderly and
incapacitated members of their clans, tens of thousand of years earlier
than previously believed, scientists said on Monday.
Studying human remains found in
southeastern France dating back 175,000 to 200,000. years ago, anthropologists
determined that a toothless and apparently very old member of a group of
archaic European people called pre-Neanderthals survived for quite a long
time despite needing others to prepare food.
This is by far the earliest evidence
of such a social safety net existing in human beings, according to Erik
Trinkaus, a professor of anthropology at Washington University in St Louis.
He is a member of a team of researchers
from Canada, France, Germany and the US whose findings appear in the Proceedings
of the National Academy of Sciences.
"It reinforces the antiquity of
what is a uniquely human characteristic - and diat is when we have problems
our friends and relatives help us out" Trinkaus said in an interview.
"Except for mothers and infants
among other species, that only happens at a fairly minimal level."
"In non-human primates - monkeys
and apes in the wild - once they lose their teeth, they die. They starve
to death."
Previous research had indicated
that early humans did not begin to take care of other members in such a
manner until about 50,000 years ago.
Trinkaus, Serge Lebel of the University
of Quebec and their colleagues examined fossils found last year in the
Bau de L'Aubesier rock shelter.
Because of massive periodontal inflammation,
all of the teeth from a jaw fragment found at the site had been missing
before the individual died, researchers said.
