Everything you think you know about Neanderthals is wrong

Archaeological evidence from a 70,000-year-old Neanderthal remains in northern Iraq suggests that early human ancestors practiced care for the vulnerable.

Michael Cook reports that British scientists examined the remains of an individual known as Shanidar A. While the remains show a severe injury to the shoulder that likely punctured a lung and severed arteries, the bones also indicate the individual survived long enough to deal with smashed teeth. These dental injuries would have caused significant pain and made eating and speaking difficult.

The presence of these injuries suggests that members of the group provided care for an individual who could no longer hunt or defend themselves. This contradicts older scientific views that primitive societies valued only physical fitness and viewed the vulnerable as a burden to hunter-gatherer groups.