A team of scientist led by Alejandro Bonmatí at the Complutense University of Madrid, Spain have uncovered remains of the most elderly ancient human ever – 500,000-years-old – in northern Spain. The individual, who was too old to hunt and fend for himself, was still a member of a family.
The find suggests that hunter-gatherers didn’t abandon the weak. He could not have been an active hunter, nor could he carry heavy loads.

“This individual probably could move around, but couldn’t get his own food, so it implies a level of social support, and that he was valued by his contemporaries,” said Chris Stringer, an anthropologist at the Natural History Museum in London.

This example of caring for the elder is not unique: The remains of a neanderthal dating 45,000 years was found in la Chapelle-aux-Saints, France. This 1908 finding also showed that he lived a long time while being unable to sustain himself.

Senior caring actors can be proud of serving a 500 000 year old foundation of human society!!