French researchers have identified the oldest case of head trauma. This is a 13-year-old child who died 100,000 years ago in present-day Israel.
The oldest case of head trauma. Researchers from the CNRS – University of Bordeaux (Gironde) unit have managed to precisely describe the injury of a child who lived in the Paleolithic. Their results, published on July 23 in PLOS One, suggest that the injury had lasting consequences on the child’s daily life.
A 13 year old child
The child examined died at the age of 12 or 13 and was buried 100,000 years ago in the region of Qafzeh, in the Lower Galilee (present-day Israel). So far, the reasons for his death have remained a mystery. Because if it did present the traces of a serious injury to the skull, researchers have always postulated that it had healed. These findings also make it the oldest documented case of severe head trauma.
As these images show, the child’s skull fracture was very serious (PLOS One / CNRS)
Disturbed movements and personality
By reconstructing the profile of the injury in 3D, the CNRS team concluded that the trauma was much more serious than postulated. An entire piece of the skull fractured, and linear fractures developed around it. Such injuries are usually the result of violence between people, but an accident is not excluded.
By modeling their appearance, the researchers were able to estimate the impact of such trauma on soft tissues, primarily the brain. It is almost certain, according to them, that the child has undergone personality changes, disturbances in the control of his movements, and had difficulties in social communication.
“Digital imaging and 3D reconstruction have shown that this was the oldest case of head trauma in a child from the Paleolithic period. Post-traumatic neuropsychological disorders may have handicapped the social life of this individual, who was buried as a teenager in a special ritual that raises the question of compassion in prehistory, ”comments Hélène Coqueugniot, author of the study. Indeed, the child was buried in a particular position, and deer antlers were placed on his chest.
.
