¿Escorbuto en los neandertales? Posibles casos en Combe-Grenal (Domme, Francia)

Abstract

This paper analyzes three human bones found by F. Bordes in the French cave of Combe-Grenal. They are part of the twenty-eight fossils from level 25 (~75/65 ky) assigned to H. s. neanderthalensis and accompanied by Mousterian (Quina) culture. Chronostratigraphic and faunal data document very cold climatic conditions corresponding to OIS 4.

The fossils consist of a small parietal fragment (Combe-Grenal A), and two incomplete mandibles, the juvenile Combe-Grenal III-IV, and the child Combe-Grenal I. The three remains show bony lesions which have altered the cortical bone. These are interpreted as the result of a reaction to chronic haemorrhages. In the parietal the periostitis may be due to the rupture of some parts of the middle meningea arteria media. In the subadult mandible it is related with the deep vasculature associated with the temporalis muscle function, while in the child the reactive bone is probably connected to the mentalis artery and stress at the anterior alveolar region.

The lesions are interpreted as possible the result of scurvy, considering the bony reactions on the parietal and two mandibles, the identified cases published, the aethiology of this disease, and the periglacial environmental conditions in which these Neanderthals lived.