Researchers found that groups living in Europe between 500,000 and 40,000 years ago took care of sick or wounded individuals over a period of many years.
The interdependence of early communities, who would hunt and eat together, let to an emerging commitment to the welfare of others.
The University of York study, published in the journal Time and Mind, examined archaeological remains to see how emotions emerged from our ancestors.
The researchers' evidence showed how a child with a congenital brain abnormality was not abandoned but lived until five or six years old.
It also showed how a Neanderthal with a withered arm, deformed feet and blindness in one eye was taken care of for up to two decades.
A four-stage model, developed scientists from the university's Department of Archaeology, charts the beginnings of human empathy from six million years ago when the common ancestor of humans and chimpanzees began to "help" others.
They concluded that compassion in Homo erectus 1.8 million years ago began to be regulated as an emotion integrated with rational thought.
Care of sick individuals showed compassion towards others while special treatment of the dead suggested grief at the loss of a loved one and a desire to soothe individuals.
In modern humans, starting 120,000 years ago, compassion was extended to strangers, animals, objects and abstract concepts.
Read more at The Telegraph
The University of York study, published in the journal Time and Mind, examined archaeological remains to see how emotions emerged from our ancestors.
The researchers' evidence showed how a child with a congenital brain abnormality was not abandoned but lived until five or six years old.
It also showed how a Neanderthal with a withered arm, deformed feet and blindness in one eye was taken care of for up to two decades.
A four-stage model, developed scientists from the university's Department of Archaeology, charts the beginnings of human empathy from six million years ago when the common ancestor of humans and chimpanzees began to "help" others.
They concluded that compassion in Homo erectus 1.8 million years ago began to be regulated as an emotion integrated with rational thought.
Care of sick individuals showed compassion towards others while special treatment of the dead suggested grief at the loss of a loved one and a desire to soothe individuals.
In modern humans, starting 120,000 years ago, compassion was extended to strangers, animals, objects and abstract concepts.
Read more at The Telegraph
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