Publications by authors named "Laura-Sophia Limmer"
Article Synopsis
- Neanderthals were previously thought to live under constant stress in harsh conditions, which might have contributed to their extinction, but recent research disputes this view and calls for further exploration of stress in Paleolithic populations.
- This study investigates dental enamel hypoplasia, a sign of early life stress, through the largest sample analyzed from Neanderthals and Upper Paleolithic humans, using comprehensive Bayesian modeling to track growth disruptions.
- The findings show that while both groups experienced similar overall stress levels, Neanderthal children faced increased growth disruptions particularly during the weaning process, whereas Upper Paleolithic children had fewer disruptions post-weaning, suggesting possible differences in childcare and survival strategies between the two species.
Early life stress disrupts growth and creates horizontal grooves on the tooth surface in humans and other mammals, yet there is no consensus for their quantitative analysis. Linear defects are considered to be nonspecific stress indicators, but evidence suggests that intermittent, severe stressors create deeper defects than chronic, low-level stressors. However, species-specific growth patterns also influence defect morphology, with faster-growing teeth having shallower defects at the population level.
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