[ad_1]
According to a new theory, Neanderthal people and their ancestors could have slept during harsh winters. Scientists have based their assumption that traces of the winter sleep remained in the petrified skeletal remains, The Guardian reported Sunday.
The researchers examined fossil skeletal remains found in a 400,000-year-old mass grave excavated at the Sima de los Huesos (Broken Bones) archaeological site in Spain. After their analysis, they came to the conclusion that prehistoric peoples protected themselves from the extremely cold winter by sleeping.
According to the researchers, the injuries and other damage to the fossilized bones of early humans are the same as those seen in the bones of hibernating animals. And this suggests that prehistoric people struggled with cold winters by slowing down their metabolism and sleeping for months.
Excavations in the cave of Sima de los Huesos in Atapuerca, northern Spain, during the last three decades Archaeologists have found fossilized skeletal remains of dozens of people. The cave is only accessible through a perpendicular descending axis 13 meters deep.
Scientists say that the cave is actually a mass grave. The fossilized bones are over 400,000 years old. and they may have been the remains of the first Neanderthals or their ancestors.
Considered one of the most important paleontological treasures on Earth, the archaeological site has so far provided a key insight into the European history of human evolution. Based on their research, a study published in the journal L’Anthropologie, they have now enriched this story with an unexpected theory.
As Juan-Luis Arsuaga and Antonis Barciokas, a scientist at the University of Democritus in Greece, who led the first excavations, reported this in their study: Their study showed that their bones were seasonally disrupted for a few months each year.
They claim these are early people they were in a metabolic state that helped them survive the harsh conditions with a limited amount of food and enough body fat. They slept through a winter sleep, and traces of him remained due to changes in the development of their bones.
Scientists have recognized that their theory “it may seem like science fiction“But, as noted, many mammals, including primates like eared marmots or lemurs, also sleep in hibernation. This suggests that the genetic basis and physiology of such reduced metabolism may have persisted in many species of mammals, including humans. Arsuaga and Barciokas argued.
The lesions seen on the bones found in Sima Cave are similar to those seen on the bones of hibernating animals, including cave bears. The winter sleep may have been the only solution to survive the harsh conditions for months in a cave. the study authors explained.
Scientists say their theory is also supported by the fact that the remains of a cave bear were also found in Sima Cave, making it more plausible that prehistoric people did the same to survive cold and scarcity. of food than bears.
The authors also examined counterarguments related to their theory. Among them is that Inuit and Sami also live in cold and harsh conditions, but they do not sleep in a winter sleep. According to Arsuaga and Barciokas, it is because the fat from fatty fish and reindeer provides them with enough food even in winter. However, the drought in Iberia at that time could not provide enough high-fat food for those who lived in the cave of Sima in the cold winters, so they had no choice but to sleep in the cave during this period.
However, according to British experts cited by The Guardian, there may be other explanations for the changes found in the fossilized bone remains, and the study authors’ theory is certainly controversial.
Chris Stringer, a scientist at the Natural History Museum in London, noted that Large mammals like bears do not sleep in hibernation because they cannot lower their internal temperature enough. Instead they fall into a less deep sleep, called lethargy.
[ad_2]
