OMG science
fromwww.npr.org
4 hours agoNeanderthals may have drilled out a cavity 59,000 years ago
A Neanderthal molar from Chagyrskaya Cave shows a depression consistent with an ancient stone-tool root-canal-like procedure.
We have little physical evidence of these interactions turning violent, however, because burials were rare and carnivores were more likely to finish off their prey. That's why the embellished burial site of a 15-year-old from 27,000 years ago is an important window into the past: the teenager's bones indicate he was mauled by a bear. The finding represents some of the first evidence of its kind.