Over the years, artists have portrayed Neanderthals as stooped creatures not unlike apes. Perhaps all these illustrations are far from the past reality, since researchers from the University of Zurich found several evidence at once that ancient people were upright. The discovery was made during the study of bone remains and reconstruction of their skeleton using computer technology.
The first images of human ancestors, extinct about 40,000 years ago, appeared at the beginning of the twentieth century. The basis of almost all reconstructions was the skeleton of a Neanderthal man discovered in 1908 in the Bufia-Boneval cave, which is located in the French commune of La Chapelle-aux-Seine. Looking at the first reconstructions, the artists began to depict them stooped - very few people seriously thought about the fact that they could walk straight.
When studying the skeleton of a Neanderthal man, the team of researchers found that his lumbar spine and neck were curved, just like in modern humans. Continuing the study with the help of computer reconstruction, scientists found out that between ancient and modern people there is another common feature - the location of the sacrum. The remains also show wear of the hip joint, which also indicates a straight posture.
Ramis Ganiev
