Lumbar anomalies in the Shanidar 3 Neandertal

Ogilvie, Marsha D.; Hilton, Charles E.; Ogilvie, Charles D.

doi:10.1006/jhev.1998.0249

Cited by 37 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…2). The anterior and posterior vertebral body heights of the second Neanderthal skeleton showing a fully preserved lumbar spine, and called Shanidar 3, fit well into this picture (Table 1; see [9]). …”

Section: Case Reportmentioning

confidence: 68%

“…This contributes to the Fig. 1 All lumbar spine elements constituting a joint unit in the Neanderthal skeleton Kebara 2 were examined for evidence of degenerative changes, and only two regions of mild degenerative spine disease were found: a Marginal osteophytes without uneven joint surfaces (grade 1 in [17]) in the right L5-S1 facet joint (spondylarthrosis); b marginal osteophytes on the left lateral part of the vertebral bodies L3 and L4 (spondylosis) [4] b Adult male, 30-35 years of age at death, dating to 60,000-48,000 years before present [3,11,14] c Adult male, 35-50 years of age at the time of death, dating to 45,000 years before present [9] Fig . 2 The bodies of modern humans' L2-L5 vertebrae are dorsally wedged, whereas L1-L4 vertebrae in the two tested Neanderthals are ventrally wedged.…”

Section: Morphology Of the Spinementioning

confidence: 99%

“…1). The vertebral bodies of another Neanderthal, called Shanidar 3, reveal marginal osteophytes at levels L1-L2 and L2-L3, indicating only mild degenerative changes too (for comparison see photographs and radiograph published in [9]). This finding is highly unexpected since Neanderthals are known to have had extraordinary physical activity.…”

Section: Degenerative Changes Of the Lumbar Spinementioning

confidence: 99%

“…In fact, 80% of these adults died before they reached age 40 [13]. The age of the two discussed adult Neanderthal specimens was estimated to 30-35 and 35-50 years at the time of death for Kebara 2 and Shanidar 3 respectively [3,9,11]. Thus, considering their ancient environment both Neanderthals reached an individual age that is remarkably old.…”

Section: Degenerative Changes Of the Lumbar Spinementioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, due to the aeriferous components of the vertebrae bodies the lumbar spine is rarely preserved [5,12]. Only in two specimens, termed Kebara 2 and Shanidar 3, the lumbar spine is fully preserved [2,3,9].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The lumbar spine in Neanderthals shows natural kyphosis

Weber¹,

Pusch

2008

Eur Spine J

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Nowadays, lumbar spondylosis is one of the most frequent causes of lower back pain. In order to improve our understanding of the lumbar spine anatomy and functionality over time, we compared the lumbar vertebrae of Neanderthals with those of anatomically modern humans. The fossil record reports on only two Neanderthal skeletons (i.e., Kebara 2 and Shanidar 3, both predating the appearance of modern humans) with full preservation of the entire lumbar spine. Examination of these early hominids showed that they display natural lumbar kyphosis, with only mild degenerative changes of the lumbar spine (ages at death: 30-35 years, Kebara 2; and 35-50 years, Shanidar 3). This finding is highly unexpected since Neanderthals are known to have had extraordinary physical activity due to demanding living conditions. The adult lumbar spines discussed here therefore show no correlation between high physical activity and degenerative spine disease as known from recent times. We speculate that both the kyphosis itself and the massive and heavily muscled skeleton of Neanderthals are causative for the minimal bone degeneration. We conclude that a kyphotic lumbar spine is the natural anatomy in these two Neanderthal individuals. Future research will reveal if this holds true for the entire Neanderthal species.

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Section: Case Reportmentioning

confidence: 68%

Section: Morphology Of the Spinementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Degenerative Changes Of the Lumbar Spinementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Degenerative Changes Of the Lumbar Spinementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The lumbar spine in Neanderthals shows natural kyphosis

Weber¹,

Pusch

2008

Eur Spine J

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Morphology and function of the lumbar spine of the Kebara 2 Neandertal

Been

Peleg

Marom

et al. 2010

American J Phys Anthropol

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The morphology of the lumbar spine is crucial for upright posture and bipedal walking in hominids. The excellent preservation of the lumbar spine of Kebara 2 provides us a rare opportunity to observe a complete spine and explore its functionally relevant morphology. The lumbar spine of Kebara 2 is analyzed and compared with the lumbar spines of modern humans and late Pleistocene hominids. Although no size differences between the vertebral bodies and pedicles of Kebara 2 and modern humans are found, significant differences in the size and orientation of the transverse processes (L(1)-L(4)), and the laminae (L(5), S(1)) are demonstrated. The similarity in the size of the vertebral bodies and pedicles of Kebara 2 and modern humans suggests similarity in axial load transmission along the lumbar spine. The laterally projected (L(2)-L(4)) and the cranially oriented (L(1), L(3)) transverse processes of Kebara 2 show an advantage for lateral flexion of the lumbar spine compared with modern humans. The characteristic morphology of the lumbar spine of Kebara 2 might be related to the wide span of its pelvic bones.

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Lumbar lordosis of extinct hominins

Been¹,

Gómez‐Olivencia²,

Kramer³

2011

American J Phys Anthropol

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The lordotic curvature of the lumbar spine (lumbar lordosis) in humans is a critical component in the ability to achieve upright posture and bipedal gait. Only general estimates of the lordotic angle (LA) of extinct hominins are currently available, most of which are based on the wedging of the vertebral bodies. Recently, a new method for calculating the LA in skeletal material has become available. This method is based on the relationship between the lordotic curvature and the orientation of the inferior articular processes relative to vertebral bodies in the lumbar spines of living primates. Using this relationship, we developed new regression models in order to calculate the LAs in hominins. The new models are based on primate group-means and were used to calculate the LAs in the spines of eight extinct hominins. The results were also compared with the LAs of modern humans and modern nonhuman apes. The lordotic angles of australopithecines (41° ± 4), H. erectus (45°) and fossil H. sapiens (54° ± 14) are similar to those of modern humans (51° ± 11). This analysis confirms the assumption that human-like lordotic curvature was a morphological change that took place during the acquisition of erect posture and bipedalism as the habitual form of locomotion. Neandertals have smaller lordotic angles (LA = 29° ± 4) than modern humans, but higher angles than nonhuman apes (22° ± 3). This suggests possible subtle differences in Neandertal posture and locomotion from that of modern humans.

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Lumbar anomalies in the Shanidar 3 Neandertal

Cited by 37 publications

References 17 publications

The lumbar spine in Neanderthals shows natural kyphosis

The lumbar spine in Neanderthals shows natural kyphosis

Morphology and function of the lumbar spine of the Kebara 2 Neandertal

Lumbar lordosis of extinct hominins

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