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Paleontologists Study Neanderthals Mobility By Tooth Fossil
The presence of a 40,000-year-old tooth in southern Greece suggests that Neanderthals may have explored more places than previously thought, paleontologists said Friday.
The tooth, which is a part of the first and only Neanderthal remains found in Greece, suggests that the species traveled away from the area where they died.
Contrary to the popular belief that Neanderthals roamed over very limited areas, the tooth remains suggest they must have been more mobile, particularly when hunting.
The analysis of the tooth, found in a seaside excavation in Greece's southern Peloponnese region in 2002, is the first concrete evidence from a Neanderthal fossil itself that suggests the species were more mobile. Early indirect evidence included stone used in tools.
The findings by the Max Planck Institute team were published in the Journal of Archaeological Science. To reach to the above conclusion, scientists analyzed tooth enamel for ratios of a strontium isotope, which showed that the Neanderthal grew up at least 12.5 miles from the discovery site.
Strontium is a naturally occurring metal found in food and water. Levels of the metal vary in different areas.
The Neanderthal was a species of the Homo genus that inhabited Europe and parts of western and central Asia. The first proto-Neanderthal traits appeared in Europe as early as 350,000 years ago.
Neanderthal may have coexisted with modern humans up to 15,000 years after Homo sapiens had migrated into Europe. It is believed that the population of Neanderthals was never much more than 10,000 individuals.
http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7009978318
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