News Archaeology

Neandertals made antibacterial ointment, but may not have known it

An experiment re-creating a Neandertal adhesive revealed its potential to heal wounds

3 photo panels side by side. The first shows a birch tree stump in snow with bark peeling off. The second shows bark in a fire. The third shows a hand with black soot on the pointer finger with a fire in the background

An ancient process that Neandertals may have used to turn birch bark (left) into a tar (condensing on a rock, middle) created a substance that easily stuck to skin (right). Re-creations of that substance show it had antibacterial properties.

TJAARK SIEMSSEN (CC-BY 4.0)

By Martin J. Kernan

This is a human-written story voiced by AI.