Researchers at an old Neanderthal burial ground in France have determined that cavemen cared for their dead a lot more than previously believed, according to AFP.
The study is based on digs around the skeleton of an elderly Neanderthal man with no teeth, who was supposedly buried after he died.
A burial pit at La Chapelle-aux-Saints was first discovered back in 1908. It contained the remains of a man with spinal deformities, which helped give rise to the popular belief of the "dim-witted and hunched Neanderthal" according to AFP.
As the years have gone by, researchers have been able to study the burial site more closely. Along with the discovery of intentional grave sites in locations throughout Europe, they now believe Neanderthals took care of their elders and dead instead of just letting them rot.
The study appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, which was published on Dec. 16. It is based on 13 years of research at the excavation site.
The remains of three more people have also been found, though it is currently unknown whether these two children and one adult were related to the 50,000-year-old man buried next to them, said lead researcher William Rendu of France's National Center for Scientific Research.
"The pit does not have any natural origins, it doesn't fit with any natural phenomenon. The only other explanation is a human origin," said Rendu, according to AFP.
Researchers think the man must have been an important person, but since he didn't have teeth, others likely chewed up is food for him. He also had a disabled hip and several other broken bones.
How the man was injured so badly is unknown at this time.
"He was able to live a long time, aided by other members of his group," said Rendu. "If they had wanted to just get rid of this man's body, they could have left it outdoors in nature, where carnivores would have quickly eaten it up. Instead they dug a hole more than a meter deep using the tools that they had, such as stone or wood or pieces of bone."
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