A new study claims to have straightened out one of the longest-running misconceptions about the Neanderthals.
Society has long viewed the Neanderthals as ape-like beings with terrible posture, however new research from the University of Zurich suggests they walked as tall as ourselves.
Modern humans are able to walk fully upright due to the 'lumbar curve' - a slight curve in the lower back which acts as a type of shock absorber.
Recent studies suggested that Neanderthals lacked the curve and as a result would have walked with a hunch.
"Advanced age"
However, lead author Martin Haeusler said the studies had examined the famous La Chapelle-aux-Saints 1, which was discovered in the limestone bedrock of a small cave in central France.
He said they may have fallen into the trap of assuming Neanderthals were somehow "less" human, by failing to consider the skeletons "advanced age" and the fact he suffered from osteoarthritis and lordosis.
“I was always convinced that our ancestors as well as the Neanderthals never walked with a semi-erect posture as this is biomechanically not adequate,” he told Inverse.
“Likewise, the current reconstruction of Neanderthals by some of our colleagues showing a straight spine without the marked sinusoidal curvature of modern humans is biomechanically absurd.”
He said he first came to believe the old idea of large-browed hunchback was incorrect for a simple reason - it would have led to severe back pain.
Neanderthals
Dr Haeusler and his colleagues created a virtual reconstruction of the La Chapelle-aux-Saints 1 skeleton for the study.
They found that his sacrum - the triangle-shaped bone between the hip bones - was positioned in the same place as it is in modern humans.
The sacrum supports the weight of the upper body and its positioning provides evidence as to the skeletons posture.
Wear marks on the skeleton's hip joints also pointed to the conclusion that Neanderthals walked upright.
The study calls for future research to "move beyond making Neanderthals less human" and focus on the subtle shifts in human biology and behaviour in the Late Pleistocene era.
