For years now, researchers thought they knew what the inside of a Neanderthal nasal cavity would look like. They assumed that it would have certain features that have been previously found in species that lived in cold climates, which help to make breathing in frigid temperatures easier.

The scientists have not been able to study an actual nasal cavity, however, because the bones in that structure are so fragile that they almost never survive to modern day.

One Neanderthal in Italy, however, has been so well-preserved that scientists could get their first look, even if the view was obstructed by concretions known as calcite popcorn coralloides. Despite those obstructions, scientists were able to digitally scan the nasal cavity using endoscopic technology.

The remains of the neanderthal remain locked in the Lamalunga karstic system, which is in southern Italy. They cannot be extracted because it would damage both the remains and the cave itself.

A study was conducted on the nasal cavity, which was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Study author Costantino Buzi spoke with IFLScience about the opportunity to get an actual look at this Neanderthal, saying:

“The first time I got into the cave and realized how well preserved the nasal cavity was, I was amazed, because I have seen many crania in our labs and I know that these structures are often destroyed.”

The Neanderthal is known as the Altamura Man, and he is 130,000 to 172,000 years old.

When studying the nose and nasal cavity, experts had thought that they would see cold-climate adaptations, such as a swelling of the nasal cavity wall, as well as no ossified roof over the lacrimal groove.

That, however, was not the case. Buzi explains that:

 “we can finally say these traits don’t exist, so we can remove them from the diagnostic list of traits [for Neanderthals].”

Having the ability to view the face and nasal cavity, even digitally, sheds new light on our ancient ancestors.

Buzi said:

“To put it simply, by looking at the interior portion of the nose, we can see that Neanderthals had their own solution for adapting airflow for the cold climate. So they were cold-adapted in the face with a different model from our own.”

This is an important reminder that while theories and ideas about how things happened in the past are important, but they should not be seen as indisputable facts. History has a way of surprising even the experts.

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