Neanderthals ‘walked upright like today’s humans’
DESPITE the common perception of their caveman gait, Neanderthals walked upright like modern humans, new research has shown.
The prehistoric species of humans are often depicted as walking with a hunched back compared to the straight-backed gait of Homo sapiens.
But researchers from the University of Zurich have discovered scientists were wrong to think Neanderthals had spines that were vastly different to our own.
Reconstructions were made in the early 20th century using an elderly male Neanderthal skeleton unearthed in La Chapelle-aux-saints, in central France, in 1908. But according to the new study scientists have known since the 1950s that this depiction was wrong.
Using new technology, a virtual reconstruction has been made of the pelvis and spine of the well-preserved Neanderthal skeleton.
The computer-generated anatomical model was created by a research group led by Dr Martin Haeusler, a specialist in evolutionary medicine from University of Zurich.
The findings have now been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal.
Researchers were able to show that both the skeleton individually as well as Neanderthals in general had a curved lumbar region and neck – just like the humans of today.
The finding is also supported by analyses of other Neanderthal skeletons with sufficient remnants of vertebrae and pelvic bones.
When reconstructing the pelvis, the researchers discovered that the sacrum was positioned in the same way as in modern humans.
This led them to conclude that Neanderthals possessed a lumbar region with a well-developed curvature.
By putting together the individual lumbar and cervical vertebrae, they found that the spinal curvature was even more pronounced.
The very close contact between the bony vertebrae also became clear, as did the prominent wear marks partially caused by the curvature of the spine.
Wear marks in the hip joint of the La Chapelle-aux-saints skeleton also pointed to the Neanderthals having an upright posture similar to that of modern humans.
Evolutionary and behavioural similarities between Homo sapiens and Neanderthals have long been known but research usually focuses on the differences between the two species.
Dr Haeusler said: ”Now is the time to recognise the basic similarities between Neanderthals and modern humans and to switch the focus to the subtle biological and behavioural changes that occurred in humans in the late Pleistocene.”