Calculated or caring? Neanderthal healthcare in social context

TY - JOUR

T1 - Calculated or caring?

T2 - Neanderthal healthcare in social context

AU - Spikins, Penny

AU - Needham, Andrew

AU - Tilley, Lorna

AU - Hitchens, Gail Elizabeth

N1 - © 2018 The Author(s).

PY - 2018/2/22

Y1 - 2018/2/22

N2 - Explanations for patterns of healed trauma in Neanderthals have been a matter of debate for several decades. Despite widespread evidence for recovery from injuries or survival despite impairments, apparent evidence for healthcare is given limited attention. Moreover, interpretations of Neanderthal’s approach to injury and suffering sometimes assume a calculated or indifferent attitude to others. Here we review evidence for Neanderthal healthcare, drawing on a bioarchaeology of care approach and relating healthcare to other realms of Neanderthal social life. We argue that Neanderthal medical treatment and healthcare was widespread and part of a social context of strong pro-social bonds which was not distinctively different from healthcare seen in later contexts. We suggest that the time has come to accept Neanderthal healthcare as a compassionate and knowledgeable response to injury and illness, and to turn to other questions, such as cultural variation or the wider significance of healthcare in an evolutionary context.

AB - Explanations for patterns of healed trauma in Neanderthals have been a matter of debate for several decades. Despite widespread evidence for recovery from injuries or survival despite impairments, apparent evidence for healthcare is given limited attention. Moreover, interpretations of Neanderthal’s approach to injury and suffering sometimes assume a calculated or indifferent attitude to others. Here we review evidence for Neanderthal healthcare, drawing on a bioarchaeology of care approach and relating healthcare to other realms of Neanderthal social life. We argue that Neanderthal medical treatment and healthcare was widespread and part of a social context of strong pro-social bonds which was not distinctively different from healthcare seen in later contexts. We suggest that the time has come to accept Neanderthal healthcare as a compassionate and knowledgeable response to injury and illness, and to turn to other questions, such as cultural variation or the wider significance of healthcare in an evolutionary context.

KW - NEANDERTHAL

KW - Archaic human

KW - Healthcare

U2 - 10.1080/00438243.2018.1433060

DO - 10.1080/00438243.2018.1433060

M3 - Article

SN - 0043-8243

JO - World Archaeology

JF - World Archaeology

ER -