he was blind in one eye as a result of a crushing blow to his head at a young age; his right arm was withered, and had possibly been amputated; he had fractured a metatarsal on his right foot, which had healed; and he was profoundly deaf.[40] This find is astonishing because it suggests that the band of Neanderthals living in Shanidar were willing and able to look after a very vulnerable member of their community. Such expressions of compassion are widely understood to be one of the key characteristics of a civilized society; indeed, for the anthropologist Margaret Mead, human civilization
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