A study published in PLOS One on May 13, 2026 by researchers from the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences describes a 59,000-year-old Neanderthal tooth from Chagyrskaya Cave in Altai Krai, Russia, with microscopic drilling marks that appear to be the earliest known dental intervention. The team reproduced the marks using a jasper drill, suggesting Neanderthals deliberately removed a damaged pulp to treat a painful cavity tens of thousands of years before modern humans.

Science · May 14 · L1-L4