Dem Bones: Ancient Compassion Revealed

"It's survival of the fittest." "We need to keep the bloodline strong." "Back in the day they wouldn't have been allowed to live." "It's really kinder to put them out of their misery." All my life I've heard people justify cruelty and injustice by invoking these all too familiar phrases when the subject of severe disability comes up. You've probably heard it too. Since the days of anonymous internet postings began, I see it even more. Some of the comments I've seen harken back to the days of  the Nazis who considered euthanasia to be a viable government policy.

English translation: 60,000 reichsmarks - This is what this person suffering from hereditary defects costs the Community of Germans during his lifetime Fellow Citizen, that is your money, too.

Now, I knew I didn't agree with this philosophy, even since childhood. As a Christian I believe it is wrong and abhorrent in the eyes of God. And I certainly knew it wasn't up to me to decide who should live and who should die. But, to be honest, I did have to grudgingly acknowledge that there might be some truth to the belief so many have that people living with disabilities were unwanted, possibly even abandoned, starved or killed, by ancient humans. After all, life used to be very difficult for people in hunter-gatherer societies. I knew that from first hand experience growing up in Alaska.

I've endured enough harsh weather camping outdoors, put in enough long days catching my supper with a fishing pole, hauled enough water, chopped down enough trees for fires, and endured enough scratches among the berry bushes to know - it ain't easy living entirely off the land! Heck, I had Gore Tex and the Army Navy Store, and it was still a lot of hard work! You're lucky if you obtain enough calories in a day to equal the number you work off!

And taking care of someone completely dependent on you in those conditions? Forget about it! Shortly after my kids came along, I pretty much abandoned all that nonsense. Although I enjoyed camping, hunting, fishing and gathering wild berries and mushrooms while I was younger, camping with two young children by myself cured me of any romantic ideas about living off the land I still had. After a week of hauling water from the creek, heating it on a wood stove, and killing myself trying to keep the kids safe, clean, warm and fed, I beat feet back to my modern house in the city - forever after grateful for hot running water, electric baseboard heat, and grocery stores!

So yeah, even though I don't believe we should do it now, I could see how ancient humans might have been harsh and merciless towards people living with disabilities. Especially knowing as I do that many are that way today. As the parent of a teenage boy who lives with autism and a communication disorder, I've unfortunately had plenty of opportunities to see the ugly side of human nature. Therefore it was pretty easy to imagine that people who had to work extremely hard to survive might be even worse.

After lifetime exposure to this grim view of ancient humans therefore, it was with great pleasure that I recently read an article about an archaeological study that flew entirely in the face of that belief. A dig in Southeast Asia revealed a group of Neolithic humans who demonstrated great compassion for an individual who lived with a severe disability - even by today's standards.

The well-preserved burial site of an adult male in his 30's was uncovered and the body examined. It was discovered that he had lived with a congenital spinal disorder that rendered him immobile below the waist and radically limited his upper body mobility. He also had a fixed right rotation of his head and a condition called torticollis (neck twists one way, chin another). It's likely that even chewing would have been very difficult for him.

After examining the skeletal remains thoroughly, archaeologists came to the conclusion that this man could not have survived into adulthood without constant care and nursing. At a time when the average age of death was before 40, he lived a full lifespan. Yet with his condition, I read, he would have been totally dependent on others for every aspect of daily living. Wow! This was exciting! Proof that compassionate humans existed even in ancient societies!

Reading the report of the archaeological dig had me wondering - who took care of this boy well into manhood? Was it his mother? Both parents? His entire family? Did it extend to other members of the tribe? Was it the entire tribe supporting and caring for this man? My guess would be all, or nearly all, of the tribe had to be involved. Judging by my camping experience with my kids, it would have been too difficult for one or a few people to carry the load of his care and support on their own in Neolithic times.

Although it's interesting to speculate on the details, it's clear that ancient humans did have compassion and care for tribal members who lived with disabilities after all. So the next time someone uses one of those Social Darwinist catch-phrases I mentioned above in my presence, I'll just point them to this Neolithic tribe in Vietnam and tell them to think again.

Say, you could try that too! Perhaps if we all do this, people will eventually stop using imagined cruelty among ancient humans to justify real modern day cruelty and injustice. Maybe they'll see that humans have the potential for both cruelty and compassion. Perhaps they'll even realize that we should appeal to the best in each other rather than the worst. Hey, it could happen! It's worth a try.

Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. 1 Peter 3:8