CC051.1: Neanderthal rickets

Claim CC051.1:

Source:

Response:

1. The signs of rickets differ from Neanderthal fossils in several respects, including the following:
   1. People with rickets are undernourished and calcium-poor; their bones are weak. Neanderthal bones are fifty percent thicker than the average human's.
   2. Evidence of rickets is easily detectable, especially on the ends of the long bones of the body. This evidence is not found in Neanderthals.
   3. Rickets causes a sideways curvature of the femur. Neanderthal femurs bend backward.
   
   Virchow, who first reported the possibility of rickets in a Neanderthal, did not cite it alone. He said the fossil had rickets in early childhood, head injuries in middle age, and arthritis in old age. It is doubtful that an entire population suffered these same afflictions.
   
   
2. Lubenow attributes rickets to a post-Flood ice age, with heavy cloud cover, shelter, and clothing, and a lack of vitamin D. But the greatest differences from modern humans, seen in Homo erectus, are found mostly in tropical areas.

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