Dederiyeh 1
Exhibit Item
Site:
Dederiyeh, Syria
Year of Discovery:
Discovered by:
A team led by Takeru Akazawa
Age:
Between 70,000 and 50,000 years old
Species:
Homo neanderthalensis
No Scan
Growing up human-style
This skull is from the skeleton of a two-year-old Neanderthal who grew at a rate similar to that of modern humans, with a long childhood. We can tell this because the leg bones of this child are about the same length as those of a modern two-year-old, indicating that this young Neanderthal was growing at a modern human rate. As childhood lengthened, parents devoted more time and energy to caring for the young.

Homo neanderthalensis; Dederiyeh 2 Skull
(Chip Clark, Smithsonian Institution)