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Neanderthals Had An Advanced Knowledge of Post Nasal Issues |
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January 18th, 2009 - Ancient drawings uncovered in a cave in southwestern Wisconsin are suggesting that Neanderthals possessed an advanced grasp of the biology and fluid dynamics of post nasal drip. One drawing depicts the profile of a Neanderthal, apparent from the pronounced brow ridge, clearly experiencing all the symptoms of a post nasal event, complete with mucus dripping down the back of the throat. "What's really exciting about this," said paleoanthropologist Biff Tekington,"is that we're thinking that these drawings may have functioned somewhat like the animal paintings in Lascaux, France. Those, we believe, were a mystical way of insuring the success of the hunt, with all it's dangers and uncertainties. Similarly, these nasal drawings were probably a way of dealing directly with the elemental forces thought to be behind sinus discomfort." "A cave, with its elongated, dripping stalactites, is the perfect metaphor for a stuffy nasal cavity. By entering such a cave and performing some ritual involving these drawings, Neanderthal may have sought some temporary relief for the symptoms that accompany post nasal drip: the itchy eyes, the runny nose and the sore throat. These symptoms were probably quite severe as Neanderthal's sinuses were much larger than those of modern day humans." "The image of Neanderthal has been changing in recent years, and now this discovery will put the final nail in the coffin of the way we used to think about these hominids. The notion that we've had of Neanderthal for so long is that of some primitive, hunch-backed brute, one wonders, where did this idea come from?" |
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