Jan Bartek – AncientPages.com – Birch tar is frequently found at Neanderthal archaeological sites and is well known to have been used as an adhesive for toolmaking. A new study, however, indicates that Neanderthals may have recognized a broader range of uses for birch tar, including its potential in treating wounds.
This aligns with observations from Indigenous communities in northern Europe and Canada, who use birch tar medicinally, and with growing evidence that Neanderthals practiced various forms of medical care.
To explore the medicinal properties of birch tar, a research team led by Tjaark Siemssen of the University of Cologne and the University of Oxford extracted tar from modern birch bark, focusing on species associated with Neanderthal sites. They employed several extraction techniques that would have been available in the Paleolithic, such as distilling tar in a clay pit and condensing it on a stone surface.
The bark of birch trees has been used to produce tar for more than 150,000 years. The center photo shows birch bark tar condensed onto a rock that borders a hearth. When scraped off the rocks, the viscous tar can be used as both an adhesive and antibiotic. Credit: Tjaark Siemssen, CC-BY 4.0
When these tar samples were tested against various bacterial strains, all effectively inhibited the growth of Staphylococcus bacteria, which are known to cause wound infections. These findings support the effectiveness of traditional Indigenous medicinal practices and strengthen the case that Neanderthals may have used birch tar not only as an adhesive but also as a wound treatment.
“We found that the birch tar produced by Neanderthals and early humans had antibacterial properties. This has important implications for how Neanderthals may have mitigated disease burden during the last Ice Ages, and adds to a growing set of evidence on health care in these early human communities
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By bringing together research on indigenous pharmacology and experimental archaeology, we begin to understand the medicinal practices of our distant human ancestors and their closest cousins. Additionally, this study of ‘palaeopharmacology’ can contribute to the rediscovery of antibiotic remedies while we face an ever more pressing antimicrobial resistance crisis.
The messiness of birch tar production deserves a special mention. Every step of the production is a sensory experience in itself, and getting the tar off our hands after spending hours at the fire has been a challenge every time,” the researchers explain in their study.
The study was published in the journal PLOS One
Written by Jan Bartek – AncientPages.com Staff Writer
