New research, co-led by the University of Victoria, found that Pleistocene-era teenagers from 25,000 years ago went through similar puberty stages as modern-day youth.
Found in the bones of 13 ancient humans between 10 and 20-years-old is evidence of puberty stages according to the university. Researchers found specific markers in the bones that allowed them to assess the progress of adolescence.
“By analyzing specific areas of the skeleton, we inferred things like menstruation and someone’s voice breaking," noted April Newell, UVic paleoanthropologist, in a news release.
Most individuals in the study sample entered puberty by 14-years old, reaching full adulthood between 17 and 22-years-old, which indicates the "Ice Age adolescents" started puberty at a similar time to teens in modern, wealthy countries.
“It can sometimes be difficult for us to connect with the remote past, but we all went through puberty even if we experienced it differently,” said Nowell in the release. “Our research helps to humanize these teens in a way that simply studying stone tools cannot.”
One of the skeletons examined was named “Romito 2,” a teen estimated to be male and the earliest known individual with a form of dwarfism.
UVic says since he was mid-way through puberty, his voice would be deeper, like an adult male, and he would have been able to father children but he may still have appeared youthful with fine facial hair. Due to his short height, his appearance would have been closer to that of a child, which may have had implications for how he was perceived by his community.
“The specific information about the physical appearance and developmental stage of these Ice Age adolescents derived from our puberty study provides a new lens through which to interpret their burials and treatment in death,” said co-author Jennifer French, an archaeologist with the University of Liverpool, in the release.
Researchers from six institutions - UVic, the University of Reading, the University of Liverpool, the Museum of Prehistoric Anthropology of Monaco, the University of Cagliari and the University of Siena - collaborated internationally to research the subject, and they continue to research the lives and social roles of Ice Age teenagers.
