Pre-Neandertal Humans Developed Social Skills Earlier Than Thought?

This article illustrates yet another example of anthropologists making huge inferences from almost-imaginary data, specifically with regards to Pre-Neandertals.

A jaw fragment found in France and attributed to Neandertal precursors apparently shows that hominids had begun taking care of those who couldn't take care of themselves 175,000 years in the past. This single jaw fragment pushes back the date for such behavior 125,000 years! (You can take a look at the actual published scientific article here).

Erik Trinkhaus, Ph.D., professor of anthropology at Washington University in St. Lous, had this to say according to the reference article,

This is the oldest example of someone surviving for some period of time without an effective set of choppers. There had to have been extensive preparation of food — a combination of cutting and cooking — before this person could eat. They had good cutting tools and controlled fire, but the absence of real hearths and tools that would have done more than dice the food suggests that this individual was being given softer food items by other members of the social group.

Although commonplace among later Neandertals and recent humans, such survival of toothless humans is unknown for earlier time periods.

Let's follow the logic from the article and the paper.

1. We've found a portion of a jaw from an individual who lived around 175,000 years ago.
   
2. It shows an achingly bad dental situation, one that would have made chewing solids unpleasant to say the least.
   
3. This dental hell existed for some time before the individual died, but we don't actually know how long.
   
4. We aren't sure if fire was used for cooking at this point in prehistory and it's very likely that individuals from this time period and location ate lots of meat.
   
5. That means this individual's meal-prep routine was extensive. Slice, dice, mash, and bash. Oh for an Osterizer.
   
6. Therefore, this individual had help.
   
7. Conclusion; hominids from as far back as 175,000 years ago took care of those who couldn't fend for themselves.

Can you find all the logical flaws in this chain of reason (and I use the term loosely)? It's not difficult. Here are some that I have identified...

1. Sampling bias; this is a huge conclusion to base on VERY slim evidence.
2. If your choice is chewing with extreme pain or starving, pain is much more palatable.
3. Was there nothing available for this individual to eat that didn't require processing? They might have preferred steak (wouldn't most of us), but slugs will do if you have no choice.
   
4. Why couldn't the individual do their own food processing? Bad teeth doesn't mean helpless.
   
5. Perhaps the individual slowly starved to death over a period of a few months due to this condition. It's not like their dentition went to hell on Tuesday and they died on Thursday.

My conclusion? This jaw tells us absolutely nothingabout pre-Neandertal social behavior. I have no problem imagining that such behavior occurred, but this jaw certainly isn't evidence for it. What it does tell us is just how far some scientists are welling to stretch things in order to make a big find.