Caveman, D.D.S.?

• Position: Archaeology - Prehistoric dentistry - Brief article

Early humans didn't gargle with Listerine or brush their teeth twice a day, but it turns out they did practice basic dentistry. Scientists recently used radiocarbon analysis on a 6,500-year-old human jawbone; it contains a lump of beeswax that they believe is the earliest known dental filling. The jawbone was found in 1911 in present-day Slovenia, but scientists haven't studied it until now. Paleontologists think the beeswax was applied to ease pain from cracks in the enamel and layers of the tooth. The Neolithic people living in the area at the time were mainly involved in breeding sheep. Researchers think what caused the tooth...