Early life of Neanderthals

The extent to which Neanderthals differ from us is the focus of many studies in human evolution. There is debate about their pace of growth and early-life metabolic constraints, both of which are still poorly understood. Here we use chemical and isotopic patterns in tandem with enamel growth rates of three Neanderthal milk teeth from northeastern Italy to explore the early life of these individuals. Our study shows that these Neanderthals started to wean children at 5 to 6 months, akin to modern humans, implying similar energy demands during early infancy. Dental growth rates confirm this and follow trajectories comparable with modern humans. Contrary to previous evidence, we suggest that differences in weaning age did not contribute to Neanderthals' demise.