Oral pathology in the Iberian Neanderthals

Abstract

In 1994, a series of human bones was found at the Sidrón cave in Borines (Concejo de Piloña, Asturias), Spain. Since the investigators suspected that they were dealing with human remains from the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), the bones were collected by the Civil Guard, but were not subjected to archeological scrutiny. The finding was reported then to the corresponding authorities, who had them sent to the Laboratory of Forensic Anthropology of the Forensic Institute of Madrid (Spain), where an anthropological study was undertaken. This revealed the extraordinary palaeoanthropological and palaeopathological interest of the remains. The specimen studied herein, a mandible catalogued as SDR 7-8 (SIDRON 7-8) by the Forensic Laboratory in Madrid (Spain) and belonging to Homo neanderthalensis, with an age of 90,000 to 40,000 years BCE, showed special characteristics of oral pathology, making it a specimen of great palaeodontological interest.

Key words: Mandible, Neanderthal, oral pathology, Sidrón, Asturias.