Dwarfism in an adolescent from the Italian late Upper Palaeolithic

There have been numerous reports of pathological conditions in the hominid fossils, but these have only involved trauma or age-related deterioration in the health of otherwise normal individuals1-4. Here we describe a skeleton of a young male from Riparo del Romito in Calabria, dated to the Epi-Gravettian of southern Italy. The preserved skeletal elements show that this individual (Romito 2) had the skull and long-bone morphology consistent with a mesomelic form of dwarfism, most probably the autosomal recessive disorder acromesomelic dysplasia5-8. Generally recognized at birth, persons with acromesomelic dysplasia usually have normal intelligence and are free of serious medical problems. However, growth deficiency is severe (adult height typically is 110-120 cm) and mobility at the elbows is restricted. These physical impairments would have greatly interfered with the individual's participation in subsistence activities and would have been a substantial handicap in a nomadic hunting and gathering group. Thus, besides being the earliest known case of dwarfism in the human record, this skeleton provides evidence of tolerance of, and care for, a severely deformed individual in the Palaeolithic. © 1987 Nature Publishing Group.