Ice Age Teens Hit Puberty Around the Same Time as Modern Humans

Researchers match tooth and bone features to identify Paleolithic adolescent maturation. Here's what they have to say about these ice age teens.

By Paul Smaglik
Sep 17, 2024 6:00 AMSep 17, 2024 6:00 PM
Reconstruction of a 16-year-old ice age teenager with a form of dwarfism who lived 11,000 years ago
Reconstruction of Romito 2, a 16-year-old teenager with a form of dwarfism who lived 11,000 years ago in southern Italy. (Credit: Olivier Graveleau)

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How do you know when an Ice Age teen hits puberty? You can see it in their bones.

A research group for the first time applied a technique initially developed for contemporary clinical observations to Paleolithic fossils. They reported in the Journal of Human Evolution that Ice Age teens experienced the same physiological changes as contemporary young adolescents at roughly the same time.

Ice Age Bones Reveal Clues About Adolescence

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