Ice Age teenagers experienced healthy puberty

September 13 () –

New bone-based research shows that Ice Age teenagers 25,000 years ago went through stages of puberty similar to those of today’s teenagers.

In a study published in the Journal of Human Evolution By investigating the timing of puberty in Pleistocene adolescents, researchers are addressing a gap in knowledge about how early humans grew.

Evidence of the stages of puberty has been found in the bones of 13 ancient humans aged between 10 and 20 years.Co-led by University of Victoria (UVic) paleoanthropologist April Nowell, the researchers found specific markers in the bones that allowed them to assess the progress of adolescence.

“By analyzing specific areas of the skeleton, we infer things like menstruation and someone’s cracked voice,” says Nowell. in a statement.

The technique was developed by lead author Mary Lewis of the University of Reading.The Lewis technique assesses the mineralization of the canines and the maturation of the bones of the hand, elbow, wrist, neck, and pelvis to identify the stage of puberty reached by the individual at the time of death.

“This is the first time my method for estimating pubertal stage has been applied to Paleolithic fossils and it is also the oldest application of another method (peptide analysis) for estimating biological sex,” Lewis says.

HEALTHY YOUNG PEOPLE

Life during prehistory was believed to be, as Thomas Hobbes described: “nasty, brutish and short.” However, this new study shows that these teenagers were actually quite healthy. Most individuals in the study sample entered puberty at age 13.5 years, and reached full adulthood between ages 17 and 22. This indicates that these Ice Age adolescents They began puberty at a similar time to teenagers in modern rich countries.

“Sometimes it can be difficult for us to connect with the distant past, but we all go through puberty even if we experience it differently,” says Nowell. “Our research helps humanize these teenagers in a way that cannot be achieved simply by studying stone tools.”

One of the 13 skeletons examined was “Romito 2,” an adolescent believed to be male and the oldest known individual with a form of dwarfismThis new research into puberty assessment provides further insight into Romito 2’s likely physical appearance and social role.

Since he was in the middle of puberty, his voice would have been deeper, like that of an adult man, and he would have been capable of fathering children; however, he may have still looked quite young, with fine facial hair. Because of his short stature, His appearance would have been more like that of a childwhich may have had implications for how he was perceived by his community.

“Specific information about the physical appearance and developmental stage of these Ice Age adolescents derived from our study of puberty provides a new perspective through which to interpret their burials and the treatment they received upon death“says archaeologist Jennifer French of the University of Liverpool, one of the study’s co-authors.