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Early life of Neanderthals

Early life of Neanderthals
Early life of Neanderthals
The early onset of weaning in modern humans has been linked to the high nutritional demand of brain development that is intimately connected with infant physiology and growth rate. In Neanderthals, ontogenetic patterns in early life are still debated, with some studies suggesting an accelerated development and others indicating only subtle differences vs. modern humans. Here we report the onset of weaning and rates of enamel growth using an unprecedented sample set of three late (∼70 to 50 ka) Neanderthals and one Upper Paleolithic modern human from northeastern Italy via spatially resolved chemical/isotopic analyses and histomorphometry of deciduous teeth. Our results reveal that the modern human nursing strategy, with onset of weaning at 5 to 6 mo, was present among these Neanderthals. This evidence, combined with dental development akin to modern humans, highlights their similar metabolic constraints during early life and excludes late weaning as a factor contributing to Neanderthals’ demise.
0027-8424
28719-28726
Nava, Alessia
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Lugli, Federico
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Romandini, Matteo
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Badino, Federica
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Evans, David
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Helbling, Angela H.
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Oxilia, Gregorio
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Arrighi, Simona
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Bortolini, Eugenio
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Delpiano, Davide
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Duches, Rossella
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Figus, Carla
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Livraghi, Alessandra
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Marciani, Giulia
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Silvestrini, Sara
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Cipriani, Anna
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Giovanardi, Tommaso
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Pini, Roberta
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Tuniz, Claudio
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Bernardini, Federico
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Dori, Irene
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Coppa, Alfredo
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Cristiani, Emanuela
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Dean, Christopher
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Bondioli, Luca
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Peresani, Marco
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Müller, Wolfgang
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Benazzi, Stefano
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Nava, Alessia
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Lugli, Federico
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Romandini, Matteo
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Badino, Federica
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Evans, David
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Helbling, Angela H.
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Oxilia, Gregorio
9968e4a7-c6f8-48fb-bf67-c326c2cd5d22
Arrighi, Simona
71d95446-9706-4989-9b7d-48ad4743020c
Bortolini, Eugenio
128dc7d7-4af5-4d0c-a6d1-baabcc33684e
Delpiano, Davide
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Duches, Rossella
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Figus, Carla
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Livraghi, Alessandra
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Marciani, Giulia
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Silvestrini, Sara
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Cipriani, Anna
43d3730d-ccc9-4eb3-8cab-0dfbc1aaa13c
Giovanardi, Tommaso
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Pini, Roberta
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Tuniz, Claudio
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Bernardini, Federico
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Dori, Irene
963fc296-5f99-47c2-9794-b2d59910b66f
Coppa, Alfredo
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Cristiani, Emanuela
c7f9ac6a-addc-4d53-bc7f-d04078d1b3b6
Dean, Christopher
10359186-2bda-4379-bb01-592483d9305d
Bondioli, Luca
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Peresani, Marco
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Müller, Wolfgang
360a71f7-0b47-4ff3-8c32-1912d70401aa
Benazzi, Stefano
63d0a6f6-dc24-4e1f-a774-df5d756ebd08

Nava, Alessia, Lugli, Federico, Romandini, Matteo, Badino, Federica, Evans, David, Helbling, Angela H., Oxilia, Gregorio, Arrighi, Simona, Bortolini, Eugenio, Delpiano, Davide, Duches, Rossella, Figus, Carla, Livraghi, Alessandra, Marciani, Giulia, Silvestrini, Sara, Cipriani, Anna, Giovanardi, Tommaso, Pini, Roberta, Tuniz, Claudio, Bernardini, Federico, Dori, Irene, Coppa, Alfredo, Cristiani, Emanuela, Dean, Christopher, Bondioli, Luca, Peresani, Marco, Müller, Wolfgang and Benazzi, Stefano (2020) Early life of Neanderthals. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117 (46), 28719-28726. (doi:10.1073/pnas.2011765117).

Record type: Article

Abstract

The early onset of weaning in modern humans has been linked to the high nutritional demand of brain development that is intimately connected with infant physiology and growth rate. In Neanderthals, ontogenetic patterns in early life are still debated, with some studies suggesting an accelerated development and others indicating only subtle differences vs. modern humans. Here we report the onset of weaning and rates of enamel growth using an unprecedented sample set of three late (∼70 to 50 ka) Neanderthals and one Upper Paleolithic modern human from northeastern Italy via spatially resolved chemical/isotopic analyses and histomorphometry of deciduous teeth. Our results reveal that the modern human nursing strategy, with onset of weaning at 5 to 6 mo, was present among these Neanderthals. This evidence, combined with dental development akin to modern humans, highlights their similar metabolic constraints during early life and excludes late weaning as a factor contributing to Neanderthals’ demise.

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e-pub ahead of print date: 2 November 2020
Published date: 17 November 2020

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 502325
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/502325
DOI: doi:10.1073/pnas.2011765117
ISSN: 0027-8424
PURE UUID: 8f0971c0-75e4-476c-bff6-095b1ec0cff5
ORCID for David Evans: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-8685-671X

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Date deposited: 23 Jun 2025 16:34
Last modified: 24 Jun 2025 02:11

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Contributors

Author: Alessia Nava
Author: Federico Lugli
Author: Matteo Romandini
Author: Federica Badino
Author: David Evans ORCID iD
Author: Angela H. Helbling
Author: Gregorio Oxilia
Author: Simona Arrighi
Author: Eugenio Bortolini
Author: Davide Delpiano
Author: Rossella Duches
Author: Carla Figus
Author: Alessandra Livraghi
Author: Giulia Marciani
Author: Sara Silvestrini
Author: Anna Cipriani
Author: Tommaso Giovanardi
Author: Roberta Pini
Author: Claudio Tuniz
Author: Federico Bernardini
Author: Irene Dori
Author: Alfredo Coppa
Author: Emanuela Cristiani
Author: Christopher Dean
Author: Luca Bondioli
Author: Marco Peresani
Author: Wolfgang Müller
Author: Stefano Benazzi

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