A 59,000-year-old tooth from a Siberian cave reveals that Neanderthals drilled into cavities to treat decay. The discovery pushes back the origins of dentistry by tens of thousands of years. Researchers identified clear marks from stone tools on the molar.
The lower second molar was found in the Altai mountains of south-western Siberia. It features three overlapping drilled depressions that reached the pulp chamber. Scientists from the Russian Academy of Sciences concluded the work was deliberate and performed with pointed stone tools made of jasper.