A recent study suggests that our ancient relatives may have developed a sticky substance for both adhesive purposes and wound treatment, predating modern medical practices by around 200,000 years.
Researchers have previously established that Neanderthals used birch tar, a thick material from birch bark, as a glue during the hafting process of spear points.
This compound has been discovered across Europe and served various functions, including acting as one of the earliest waterproof sealants and even something akin to ancient chewing gum.
“In addition to these findings, there’s increasing evidence of medicinal practices among Neanderthals, which piqued our interest in birch tar’s potential uses,” explains Tjaark Siemssen, an archaeologist connected with the University of Cologne and Oxford University, and the primary author of the study.
In their recent research, teams from the University of Cologne, the University of Oxford, and the University of Liège recreated birch tar using techniques and materials that Neanderthals might have employed.
Subsequent biological evaluations conducted at Cape Breton University in Nova Scotia confirmed the medicinal attributes of the tar.
“We were able to substantiate that the substance produced by Neanderthals 200,000 years ago contains antibacterial properties,” remarks Matthias Bierenstiel, a chemistry professor at Cape Breton University and a co-author of the study.
To replicate this ancient glue-medicine, the researchers collected bark from two types of birch trees that were prevalent during the Late Pleistocene epoch, roughly 129,000 to 11,700 years ago.
They then employed three extraction methods to transform the bark into a sticky, spreadable form.
The first method involved heating birch bark in a tin—a technique inspired by the Mi’kmaq, the Indigenous people of Nova Scotia, who have historically utilized birch tar in their traditional medicine.
The other two methods simulated what Neanderthals might have done. One involved burning birch bark in a sealed pit for dry distillation, while the other consisted of burning the bark against a stone surface and collecting the condensed tar.
The resulting tar samples from these methods exhibited varied antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, a common bacterium linked to wound infections.
However, the tar was not as effective as Gentamicin, a widely used antibiotic, and it had no impact on Escherichia coli, another bacterium commonly found in the gut.
These findings imply that ancient populations may have utilized birch tar to treat wounds or skin issues vulnerable to infection.
But how did our ancestral relatives stumble upon these discoveries? Well, birch tar tends to stick to everything, making it accessible in daily activities. Interestingly, even a small amount—just 0.2 grams—can cover a substantial area of skin.
Significantly, this age-old knowledge might provide avenues for combating antibiotic-resistant infections, as the tar shows effectiveness against S. aureus. This particular pathogen has the troubling ability to resist all classes of current antibiotics and results in about 500,000 hospitalizations annually in the U.S.
“Our discoveries indicate that it could be beneficial to explore targeted antibiotics from historical or prehistoric contexts in more detail,” concludes Siemssen.
As with other elements of history, healthcare may go through cycles, suggesting that when modern solutions falter, looking back at ancient approaches might offer valuable insights.
This research appears in PLOS One.
