 BBC's Mallard Casino reporting. When scientists began studying the Neanderthals, it was widely thought they were brutish and unsophisticated by comparison with our own species. Recent discoveries, though, have challenged that. Scientists studying fossil fragments of a Neanderthal community have found the earliest known instance of Down syndrome in a young child. This finding suggests Neanderthals showed compassion for younger members of their society. Marianne Strawn has more.