The 17,000-Year-Old Remains of a Child Were a Mystery for 25 Years. Then, Scientists Studied His Teeth.

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The 17,000-Year-Old ******** of a Child Were a Mystery for 25 Years. Then, Scientists Studied His Teeth.

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In 1998, 17,000-year-old skeletal ******** of a 1 year old child were uncovered in southern Italy.

The well-preserved ******** underwent skeletal and DNA analysis in order to determine the child’s appearance, ****, and cause of ******.

A new study reveals that the child likely ***** from a heart condition caused by genetic mutations.

Skeletal ******** of a 17,000-year-old baby were uncovered in southern Italy in 1998. Now, thanks to thorough analysis of the remarkably well-preserved ********, archaeologists have been able to determine what the child looked like, and what ultimately ended his short life.

As detailed in an article in

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, and summarized by

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, the child’s body was found beneath two rock slabs within Grotta delle Mura ***** in Monopoli, Italy, and in

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uncommon for the region’s warmer climate. It was preserved so well, in fact, that the corpse’s

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were intact enough to show “as many as nine accentuated lines, or markers of physiological hardships.”

“The detailed analysis of the infant’s teeth allowed us to infer the health and stress experienced by the child during infancy and/or his mother during pregnancy—something we rarely have the opportunity to explore with such precision,” the study’s co-lead authors told LiveScience.

The isotopes observed in the child’s tooth

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also indicated approximately where he had been born. “The strontium isotope analysis further revealed that the mother remained in the local area during the last ******* of her pregnancy,” the authors noted.

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suggested that the child ***** when he was roughly 1 year and 4 months old, while DNA analysis painted a strong portrait of his appearance and cause of ******. They determined that the child “likely had blue eyes, dark skin and curly dark-brown to almost ****** hair,” as well as some likely fatal genetic mutations.

“The

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also revealed that the baby harbored mutations in two genes — TNNT2 and MYBPC3—involved in the production of heart muscle proteins,” LiveScience summarized, “These mutations often lead to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a largely genetic condition that makes the walls of the left ventricle thicken and stiffen over time, meaning the heart can’t receive or pump out enough blood with each heartbeat.”

In the absence of any evidence of fatal injury, it’s reasonable to conclude that it was indeed this congenital heart ******** that ultimately claimed the life of this child millennia ago. But despite his short life, his remarkably preserved ******** have allowed him to further the understanding of a society that he predated by millenia.

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#17000YearOld #******** #Child #Mystery #Years #Scientists #Studied #Teeth

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