“No one likes going to the dentist to have a hole drilled in their tooth, notes the popular magazine Scientific American. But it gets worse: you could be a Neanderthal and carry out such an operation yourself on your decayed molar. All with just a single chip of stone.â€
Found in southwestern Siberia, a tooth approximately 59,000 years old seems to indicate that Neanderthals were capable of treating their cavities – although it was probably extremely painful. “On this second lower molar, probably infected, we find marks which indicate drilling carried out in three stages with stone tools, to reach the dental pulp†, specifies the scientific journal New Scientist.
“Intelligent and capable hominidsâ€
The study of this Neanderthal tooth was published by a team from the Russian Academy of Sciences on the website of the very serious journal Plos One. According to the Smithsonian Magazine, “the first known dental operations were until now about 45,000 years more recent†. But above all, the work of these researchers “adds to the growing number of studies suggesting that Neanderthals were intelligent and capable hominids†.
“Our discovery completely challenges preconceived ideas about the cognitive abilities of Neanderthals, by demonstrating that they could reason causally about diseases.†, confirm the search Kseniya Kolobova, citée at New Scientist.
According to her, the technique used to perforate the tooth was not a coincidence. “The person in charge of the operation knew where to drill, how far to go and when to stop. Regardless of who held the tool, the intervention demonstrates a remarkable level of sophistication, both cognitively and motorically.â€
The team from the Russian Academy of Sciences believes that the individual who owned the analyzed tooth survived the operation and was subsequently able to eat. However, they found no evidence indicating that the hole in his tooth had been blocked by any substance.
