A new study published in International Journal of Paleopathologyturns the old idea of ​​the life of ancient nomadic tribes. For a long time, archaeologists believed that hunters-gatherers leading a mobile lifestyle could not afford to take care of the sick and wounded-such as it was believed, they simply left, so as not to slow down the movement of the group. However, the analysis of the bones found in Patagonia shows the opposite: Even thousands of years ago, people helped those who could not survive without support.

What the bones showed

Scientists have studied more than three thousand bone fragments of twenty-five archaeological sites of hunter-gatherers who lived during the late Golocene (~ 4000–250 BC). About every fifth person, they found traces of injuries – from light to heavy. Fractures were found both in men and women, while adults suffered more often for children.

According to Romano, it is not easy to determine the cause of such injuries.

“It is difficult to say whether they were the result of accidents or violence,” the researcher explains. – We proceeded from the fact that most of the damage occurred by chance. Without additional evidence, it is impossible to distinguish a fracture after falling from a fracture after a blow. ”

Only in two cases, injuries, perhaps, were the result of the conflict – arrowheads stuck in the bones. But even they could be obtained by mistake, during hunting.

Scientists shared damage by severity. Most fractures are relatively light: cracks in the skull, nose, ribs and clavicles. Such injuries heal in a few weeks and do not require constant assistance.

In about every fifth case, average damage – fractures of the arms or shoulders, which limited mobility for months. People with such injuries could not participate in the hunt, make tools or cook food, so they were probably helped by members of the group.

The most serious were injuries that requiring long -term care – up to six months or even for life. One of the most amazing examples is a person with a strongly damaged hip joint. The head of the thigh and the articular cavity were deformed, as if after a strong blow or fall. Perhaps this was a consequence of the disease that disrupts the blood supply to the joint in children and leads to its destruction.

The bone completely healed, which speaks of the main thing: this person not only survived, but also lived for many years, probably thanks to the constant support of others.

Care contrary to circumstances

It was this fact that became the most unexpected. Patagonia is a harsh region where nomadic tribes lived hunting and gathering. In such conditions, each participant in the group should have been physically active. But despite this, people helped those who temporarily or forever lose the opportunity to work.

“We see that help and sympathy is not an invention of civilization,” says Romano. “Even nomadic gatherers understood the value of human ties and did not abandon their own.”

Previously, such cases were found only singlely – for example, the healed fractures of the foot in people who lived in the middle head. But the study of Romano was the first where the care of patients was studied at the level of the whole population.

The results of the work change the idea of ​​how the ancient communities looked. It turns out that even mobile groups that did not have houses, supplies of food and healers were able to build a support system. This makes their social life much more complicated and more human than it was considered before.

Subscribe and read “Science” in

Telegram