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Upon analyzing 111 fragments of a Neanderthal baby found in the Amud Cave, researchers observed an “advanced” bone development from a very early age and reinforced that the Neanderthal growth pattern was different from that of humans
We tend to think of childhood as “a natural way” for the human species, but the Xataka Portal reminds us that, from an evolutionary perspective, our long childhood is somewhat abnormal. Homo sapiens takes time to mature, to develop, and to become independent, raising an inevitable question: has it always been this way with our closest relatives?
This is where the discovery of a Neanderthal baby aged between 6 and 14 months comes in. The remains of Amud 7, found in Israel, helped science see that Neanderthal growth was not just a faster version of ours. It was a different trajectory from the start.
Why a Neanderthal baby is so rare and so valuable to science
Studying baby skeletons in the fossil record is a huge challenge because the bones are small, fragile, and almost never survive the passage of time. Therefore, when a case like Amud 7 arises, it becomes a rare window to understand how childhood occurred in another human species.
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The team led by researcher Ella Been managed to analyze 111 bone fragments from this baby, which is already, in itself, an uncommon material.
What the bones of Amud 7 revealed about growth from the beginning
By studying the skeleton, researchers observed that the bone development of Amud 7 progressed at a speed that today would seem very high, as the level of maturation was elevated for the age.
More than that, the physiology already showed very clear Neanderthal affinities despite being a baby. The conclusion is that the morphological differences between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens appeared practically from birth, or even earlier, in the womb.
The other piece of the puzzle: a Neanderthal child aged 7.7 years
To understand the significance of this discovery, Xataka draws a parallel with another important case: a Neanderthal child aged 7.7 years, named Sidrón J1, studied in research published in 2017.
The finding left researchers intrigued because, although most bones matured at a rate similar to ours, the brain was still growing at an age when the brain of a Homo sapiens child would have already reached its final size. Additionally, the thoracic vertebrae showed a curious delay.
What do these two discoveries together change in the idea of human childhood
When you place Amud 7 and Sidrón J1 side by side, a clearer reading emerges: Neanderthal development was not simply “ours, but faster.” It was a different physiological pattern.
The source suggests a design that makes sense within the logic of survival: in the first months, the body grows at a frantic pace to increase chances of survival, while organs that consume a lot of energy, like the brain, need a prolonged growth period.
Why this fits into the harsh world they lived in
The portal Xataka reminds us that, at the time these children grew up, survival was the center of everything. Remaining small and highly dependent for a long time would not exactly be an advantage in a hostile and cold Eurasia, with many diseases and high energy demands.
At the same time, there is a nuance: a study published in 2012 suggested that, from the third or fourth month of life, the height growth of Neanderthals might slow down, possibly due to weaning and metabolic stress in that environment.
In other words: it was not a straight line of “growing always faster,” but a complex balance between growing, expending energy, and surviving.
If you had to bet, which scenario seems more “survival-oriented” for Neanderthals: the body shooting up first and the brain gaining time later, or the brain speeding up early even if the rest of the body follows more slowly?
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