External auditory exostoses and hearing loss in the Shanidar 1 Neandertal

Author

Erik Trinkaus
Sebastian Villotte

Files

Publication Date

October 2017

Abstract

The Late Pleistocene Shanidar 1 older adult male Neandertal is known for the crushing fracture of his left orbit with a probable reduction in vision, the loss of his right forearm and hand, and evidence of an abnormal gait, as well as probable diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis. He also exhibits advanced external auditory exostoses in his left auditory meatus and larger ones with complete bridging across the porus in the right meatus (both Grade 3). These growths indicate at least unilateral conductive hearing (CHL) loss, a serious sensory deprivation for a Pleistocene hunter-gatherer. This condition joins the meatal atresia of the Middle Pleistocene Atapuerca-SH Cr.4 in providing evidence of survival with conductive hearing loss (and hence serious sensory deprivation) among these Pleistocene humans. The presence of CHL in these fossils thereby reinforces the paleobiological and archeological evidence for supporting social matrices among these Pleistocene foraging peoples.

Keywords

Pleistocene Epoch, Paleoanthropology, Neanderthals, Canals, Deafness, Dentition, Foraging, Cranium

Document Type

Article

Notes

Plos One, Vol. 12, no. 10 (2017-10-20).

Identifier

K26-05087

Recommended Citation

Trinkaus, Erik and Villotte, Sebastian, "External auditory exostoses and hearing loss in the Shanidar 1 Neandertal" (2017). KIP Articles. 1919.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/kip_articles/1919