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Posted on 05/16/2026 7:31:27 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
A new study suggests that about 59,000 years ago, someone used a small stone tool to drill into a badly decayed tooth, remove diseased tissue and expose the pulp chamber. The patient may have done it himself, or allowed another Neanderthal to do it. Either way, the procedure points to a striking level of skill, pain tolerance and practical medical understanding...
By the time archaeologists found it in Chagyrskaya Cave, in the Altai Mountains of southern Siberia, the molar had lost nearly all of its crown. Its enamel was gone and the chewing surface had been worn flat by a hard life and a hard diet...
Stunningly, the operation may have worked, at least partly. The treated tooth shows signs of later wear, meaning it remained in use after the painful intervention, but the isolated molar cannot reveal whether the infection eventually healed or spread deeper into the jaw. Exposing the pulp may also have destroyed nerves and reduced pain afterward...
Evidence for Neanderthal "medicine" was already building before. Researchers have long pointed to Neanderthals who survived serious injuries, illness, and old age -- survival that likely required food sharing, protection, and social care. There were also hints of medicinal plant use and a form of natural antibiotic repeated toothpick marks that may have helped relieve oral pain. But this is a whole different story.
(Excerpt) Read more at zmescience.com ...
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Trouble all around [2006/02/10]
Some Ethiopian populations would be expected to have more Neanderthal ancestry than other Africans, because of admixture with Middle Easterners.
we’ve heard rumor that there’s been a teeny weeny bit (not much) progress since then?
it does sound all too familiar, from recent personal experience, tho
My three favorite inventions of the twentieth century are home air conditioning, Novocain and Rock and Roll.
Sure
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