On Sat, 9 Sep 2000, Ray Audette wrote:

> >  The Neanderthal were plagued by
> > osteoarthritis, and they were probably as paleo as we are likely
> > to get."
>
> Neanderthals exhibited many kinds of injuries associated with rodeo
> performers including fractures and joint injuries.

This seems to imply that the skeletal effects of osteoarthritis
cannot be distinguished from those of impact injuries.  Is this
the case?  I find it surprising.

> Because they had no
> dogs, they had to hold their prey at bay using heavy spears and stone clubs.

I was unaware that they had no dogs.  Why was that?

> They also had heavier muscles than do most modern Humans.  Their resulting
> higher resting metabolic rate made it more difficult for them to store fat
> as many modern humans do.

It seems to me that you have to be carrying a lot of fat for it
to confer a significant protection against skeletal injuries.
And I don't see why muscle couldn't play a comparable cushioning
role.

> When Neanderthals became Modern Man and wolves became dogs, both species
> became more gracile (NeanderThin).

This assumes, of course, that Neanderthals *did* become Modern
Man, a hypothesis that at the moment is not looking very
promising.  Is there evidence that osteoarthritis became less
common as this alleged transformation took place?  The main
point, of course, is that osteoarthritis is a distinctly
preagriculatural disease.

Todd Moody
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