Neanderthals Got Cavities, Too—and New Research Suggests They Drilled Into Their Teeth to Treat Them, Just Like Modern Dentists
Researchers say the drilling likely eased a painful cavity and shows Neanderthals used stone tools with surprising precision.
- Scientists discovered a 59,000-year-old Neanderthal molar in Siberia's Chagyrskaya Cave featuring deliberate drilling to treat a cavity, published Friday in PLOS One.
- Previous evidence of dental care originated from Homo remains in Italy dating to roughly 14,000 years ago, though this discovery adds to research showing Neanderthals were intelligent hominins.
- Advanced imaging and laboratory replication with jasper stone tools confirmed the drilling, with lead author Alisa Zubova of the Russian Academy of Sciences noting the operator understood "exactly where the pain was coming from."
- Demonstrating cognitive sophistication, the operator knew "how deep to go and when to stop," Krivoshapkin said, as the tooth shows polish from continued use, proving the patient survived.
- Regardless of who performed the treatment, the successful intervention indicates significant motor skills, suggesting Neanderthal populations possessed sophisticated knowledge for treating health issues long before previously thought.
16 Articles
16 Articles
Nearly 60,000 years ago, Neanderthals already knew a physical procedure to treat toothache. They used a stone tool for this, according to a study of ancient teeth. Neanderthals may have been more developed than we often think, and perhaps our perception of them needs to be adjusted, the researchers suggest.
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The study of a Neanderthal molar approximately 59,000 years old suggests that this hominid was capable of dental care, according to the scientific press. This provides further evidence of the intelligence of this extinct species. Source link: https://www.courrierinternational.com/article/prehistoire-oui-l-homme-de-neandertal-allait-bien-chez-le-dentiste_244055 Author: Publish date: 2026-05-15 17:32:00 Copyright for syndicated content belongs to …
A team of scientists found a 59,000-year-old tooth, which offers revealing clues as to how prehistoric humans could have treated caries, they claim.This is a lower molar of an adult Neanderthal, which was found in the Chagryskaya cave, located in the Altai mountains of southwest Siberia.In that place, positioned in what is now Russia, lived populations of these early humans about 49,000 to 70,000 years ago.The researchers, who published their fi…
Neanderthal molar from Siberia points to possible dental treatment...
A damaged Neanderthal tooth from Siberia may contain the earliest known evidence of dental treatment, according to a study published in *PLOS One*. Researchers examined a lower molar recovered from Chagyrskaya Cave in the Altai Mountains of southern Siberia. The tooth, labelled Chagyrskaya 64, belonged to an adult Neanderthal who lived roughly 59,000 years ago. What caught the attention of researchers was a large cavity cut deep into the chewing…
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