Down syndrome among Neanderthals?

[Primum Sapienti]

https://www.science.org/doi/epdf/10.1126/sciadv.adn9310
The child who lived: Down syndrome among Neanderthals?

Caregiving for disabled individuals among
Neanderthals has been known for a long time,
and there is a debate about the implications
of this behavior. Some authors believe that
caregiving took place between individuals
able to reciprocate the favor, while others
argue that caregiving was produced by a
feeling of compassion related toother highly
adaptive prosocial behaviors. The study of
children with severe pathologies is
particularly interest-ing, as children have a
very limited possibility to reciprocate the
assistance. We present the case of a
Neanderthal child who suffered from a
congenital pathology of the inner ear,
probably debilitating, and associated with
Down syndrome. This child would have required
care for at least 6 years, likely
necessitating other group members to assist
the mother in childcare.

[JTEM]

Post by Primum Sapienti
https://www.science.org/doi/epdf/10.1126/sciadv.adn9310
The child who lived: Down syndrome among Neanderthals?
Caregiving for disabled individuals among
Neanderthals has been known for a long time,
and there is a debate about the implications
of this behavior. Some authors believe that
caregiving took place between individuals
able to reciprocate the favor, while others
argue that caregiving was produced by a
feeling of compassion related toother highly
adaptive prosocial behaviors. The study of
children with severe pathologies is
particularly interest-ing, as children have a
very limited possibility to reciprocate the
assistance. We present the case of a
Neanderthal child who suffered from a
congenital pathology of the inner ear,
probably debilitating, and associated with
Down syndrome. This child would have required
care for at least 6 years, likely
necessitating other group members to assist
the mother in childcare.

Fascinating but, how do they know that they didn't kill
the child?

NOTE: Even in medieval England, a child was just a
child until the age of 7. From then on they would be
sent into the fields...

You're giving this Neanderthal an age of 6.

It has been claimed that Neanderthal children were all
prodigies. a "Prodigy" is a child who develops fast
and/or early. They can be referred to as "Geniuses" but
they typically turn into normal adults. The operate at
an adult level, or at least well beyond their years as
a child, but they don't maintain the gap as they age.

It has been suggested that Neanderthals may have all
been like this...

If so, they may have been happy to let a child be a
helpless child for some years, like a child in
medieval England, and then needed them to start pulling
some weight after a certain age.. likely a younger age
than a typical Hss.

Could have been a case where the shelflife on this one
Neanderthal child expired and they were like, "This
one's a zipper head. Someone hand me a rock."

So called "Modern" humans were often far worse, far more
cruel.

What I'm saying here is that what you are "Reporting"
is far, Far, FAR less about the evidence and more about
the interpretation. Alter your perspective and your
interpretation changes. Your "Findings" change.