Neanderthals Performed Dental Work 59,000 Years Ago

A team in southern Russia’s Altai region examined a 59,000-year-old Neanderthal molar. The tooth shows evidence of deliberate drilling into the pulp cavity, a space containing nerves and blood vessels. Researchers at the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography ruled out natural wear, trauma, and geological processes as explanations for the hole.

They replicated the grooves using stone tools found at the Chagyrskaya Cave site. Wear on the edges of the drilled cavity indicates the Neanderthal continued using the tooth after the procedure. The team believes this demonstrates the Neanderthal performed a dental operation to remove an infection and alleviate pain.

This discovery pushes back the earliest known evidence of dental intervention by over 40,000 years. While the exact methods and level of pain management remain unknown, the tooth suggests complex cognitive abilities in Neanderthals. Further research will explore the extent of medical practices among our extinct relatives.