Backache problem is as old as the Stone Age
By ANIWednesday, February 23, 2011
LONDON - An archaeologist has found that backache is not a modern problem - even cavemen suffered from it.
A damaged spine found in northern Spain, with other fossil evidence, suggests that back problems have been with us for millions of years.
The spine came from a man aged about 45 who lived over half a million years ago and the way in which the bones developed and the way they changed due to wear and tear reveal that whoever they belonged to was probably suffering severe back pain.
Dr Asier Gomez-Olivencia, from Cambridge University, is matching the fossilised bones to modern spines showing similar lesions.
“It appears that we are looking at the spine of a man who had several different problems associated with pain today,” the Daily Express quoted him as saying.
Dr Gomez-Olivencia will present the findings in a talk, Four Million Years of Back Pain, at Cambridge University this week. (ANI)
