A single molar from Chagryskaya Cave in Siberia is changing the way researchers understand Neanderthal medical skill. The tooth, from an adult Neanderthal, contained a deep cavity reaching the pulp chamber, along with scratches around the hole. Fine-pointed stone tools found at the cave may have been used to remove decayed tissue.
Scans and experiments on modern human teeth suggest someone essentially drilled out the cavity by hand. The study, published in PLOS One, identifies the tooth as the earliest known evidence of dental cavity intervention in human evolutionary history. The procedure would have required pain recognition, patience, manual skill, tool selection, and perhaps assistance from another person.
Lead study author Alisa Zubova said what impressed her most was that the person understood “exactly where the pain was coming from.” The discovery adds to the growing evidence that Neanderthals were not crude or primitive in the old, caricatured sense. They were observant, socially bonded, technically capable, and willing to intervene to relieve suffering.