Posted on 08/24/2006 11:13:28 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
In a study already drawing the fire of controversy, an American geographer has pointed out evidence suggesting, in his view, that little more than the amount of iodine in their diets may have been responsible for the physical differences between Neanderthals and modern humans and that this might solve the mystery of what happened to the Neanderthals. According to this interpretation, the skeletons of Neanderthals bear signs of physical deformities and possibly impaired mental health, which could be a result of iodine-deficient diets... It may even mean that Neanderthals could actually have been anatomically modern humans who were pathologically altered by iodine-deficiency diseases, like cretinism. Perhaps the Neanderthals did not so much disappear as change their diets some time before 30,000 years ago to include more iodine-rich foods. In that case, this could explain why certain Neanderthal physical traits -- heavy brows, thick bones and musculature and propensities for degenerative joint diseases, which are also associated with iodine-deficiency diseases -- did not persist even if their genes continued into later European populations. These are the provocative ideas of Dr. Jerome E. Dobson, a geographer at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory... "I compared Neanderthal and cretin morphology and ultimately concluded that Neanderthals were iodine-deficient," Dr. Dobson said last week... An authority on Neanderthals, Dr. Fred H. Smith of Northern Illinois University, in De Kalb, said the iodine hypothesis reminded him of the arguments raised, and rejected, in the past to explain away Neanderthal anatomy as examples of rickets-caused deformities. Dr. Eric Trinkaus, a paleontologist at Washington University, in St. Louis, who has written several books on Neanderthals, also disputed Dr. Dobson's evidence for widespread iodine deficiency in Neanderthal skeletons as well as his interpretations.
(Excerpt) Read more at query.nytimes.com ...
Please FREEPMAIL me if you want on or off the
"Gods, Graves, Glyphs" PING list or GGG weekly digest
-- Archaeology/Anthropology/Ancient Cultures/Artifacts/Antiquities, etc.
Gods, Graves, Glyphs (alpha order)
Eberhard Zangger...when Johann Karl Fuhlrott discovered the bones of a Neanderthal in a cave near Duesseldorf in 1856, the president of the German Society of Anthropology considered it a bow-legged, Mongolian Cossack with rickets, who had been lucky enough to survive multiple head injuries, but who, during a campaign by Russian forces against France in 1814, had been wounded, and (stark naked) had crawled into a cave, where he died.Skeptical Quiz ResultsJohn Coffin found these quotes: 'Rudolf Virchow, who was not only a great man of medicine but a highly respected archaeologist, examined the skull and dismissed it as unimportant. According to Virchow, the strange appearance of Neanderthal man was the result of an attack of rickets in his youth, which had twisted his legs and deformed his pelvis. He had triumphed over this handicap, Virchow declared, and had become a doughty fighter. The flat forehead and the massive brow ridges were caused by repeated skull fractures suffered during combat.' -- And -- 'An anthropologist named Pruner-Bey announced that the man of the cave had been "a powerfully organized Celt somewhat resembling the modern Irish with low mental organization." Professor Mayer of Bonn suggested that the skeleton was that of one of the Russian Cossacks who had invaded Germany in 1814. Another authority disagreed: "The skull is so deformed that the man must have been diseased. He had water on the brain, was feeble-minded, and no doubt lived in the woods like a beast."'
Dr. Bob
October 2000
Reminds me of Egil's Bones:
http://www.viking.ucla.edu/Scientific_American/Egils_Bones.htm
We meet again :-)
This reminds me of Dorothy Sayers' short story The Incredible Elopement of Lord Peter Wimsey.
Fascinating read, look it up...
A jealous MD married to a young woman with thyroid deficiency takes her to a foreign country and starves her of iodine to get revenge. Lord Peter Wimsey to the rescue!
(Also manages to work in quotes from Homer in the original Greek and a mention of Saint-Saens' Dance Macabre...)
Cheers!
I have to doubt that there is nearly enough evidence to make that determination.
Well howdy. Bookmarked & saved. Thanx. There's one copy of the book in my state's library system & it's not at a local branch. Ordering a book takes about a month. grrrr However, it is one of the libraries I want see. I'll have to check it out.
If Neanderthal, dating from 350,000 years ago, was anatomically a modern human but modified by an iodine deficiency, then modern humans should have appeared a lot earlier than 100,000 years ago where iodine was abundant.
That's really funny. This news story made me think of Lord Peter, also!
Now, just quit being logical before I get the belt. ;')
I thought all the members of the Egils were still alive...
Hey, that article looks great. Nice and creepy too.
Neanderthal, iodine bkmark
Aha! Now everything makes perfect sense. Memo to self: E-mail neanderthal ex-boyfriend that he should ditch the salt-free diet & increase consumption of seafood & broccolli immediately.
See what a good picture can do? lol
350,000 years ago? Are you sure?
http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/homs/species.html
In this context, it's interesting that Neandertal occupation sites often have trash heaps of bones, but all are land species -- they appear not to have eaten fish. OTOH, that could be due to lack of availability -- most of the land where the Neandertal walked is now under 100s of feet of water. :')
Most uniquely we have this evidence of Neanderthals exploiting marine resources.
http://www.chronicle.gi/Features/chris%20stringer/chris%20stringer.htm
Thanks, interesting link.
L
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
