Neanderthals dug caves to relieve toothache 59,000 years ago

Two teeth were museum specimens, whose age and condition were unknown, making them useless for further research. But one, the third left molar with an unrepaired hole, came from the mouth of one of the authors – for science!

(In most scientific papers, a section at the end describes each author’s specific contributions, which usually refers to tasks such as writing, data collection, stone tool making, and analysis. The paper’s author contributions did not mention “a tooth’s contribution to experimental archaeology,” so we can only speculate about who bit the proverbial bullet.

The holes and dimensions left by Zubova and his colleagues’ experiments are very similar to what they saw on the molar from Chagyrskaya, which means that it is very possible that the 59,000-year-old tooth was, in fact, the result of a real Paleolithic medical procedure.

We already knew that Neanderthals, and even early hominins, cared for their sick, injured, and disabled; archaeologists have found ancient hominins, dating back hundreds of thousands of years, sports injuries treated with bone diseases that could not live without, at least, someone to bring them food while they heal. But the Chagyrskaya molar is a proof of skillful medicine. It’s the difference between chicken soup and minor surgery.

“Treating a toothache is not just feeding or guarding a person, but it is necessary to know the source of the pain, choose the right tool, do the painful, destructive, and continue even if the patient does not feel well,” said Kolobova. “This is standard medical care.”

And—in the clear success of dental surgery performed in a cave with a sharp stone—the patient used the tooth for years afterward. The molar showed signs of long-term wear and tear, which would have been possible only if the patient had been chewing for another day.

Your dentist’s office has never been so pretty.

What did poor Og go through?

What would this whole experience have been like for a Neanderthal patient? Like today’s dentists—more, much bigger—it would be less fun but better than the rest. The patient would not have the benefit of modern painkillers, but archeology in other places shows that Neanderthals knew about herbs such as chamomile and yarrow, as well. antiseptics like birch tar. And there are some natural painkillers among the plants of modern Siberia, such as white clover, which is also a very effective disinfectant.