Interdisciplinary

Neanderthals treated tooth decay with early dental tools

AI Insight

This is a correction notice for a previously published article about evidence of dental intervention in Neanderthals. The original research reported findings of what appeared to be deliberate treatment of dental caries (tooth decay) in Neanderthal remains, suggesting these ancient humans actively managed dental health problems. Correction notices typically address errors in the original publication such as data, figures, authorship, or interpretational issues identified after publication.


Evidence of dental care in Neanderthals would significantly alter our understanding of their cognitive capabilities and cultural sophistication. Such findings could demonstrate that complex healthcare practices emerged much earlier in human evolution than previously documented.


by Alisa V. Zubova, Lydia V. Zotkina, John W. Olsen, Alexander M. Kulkov, Vyacheslav G. Moiseyev, Anna A. Malyutina, Roman V. Davydov, Sergey V. Markin, Eugene A. Maksimovskiy, Pavel V. Chistyakov, Andrey I. Krivoshapkin, Ksenia A. Kolobova

Source: Correction: Earliest evidence for invasive mitigation of dental caries by Neanderthals