Prehistoric painkillers.

• Position: SCIENCE - Use of medicinal plants by Neanderthals - Brief article

They're often portrayed as primitive cavemen with limited intelligence. But it turns out that Neanderthals--a species related to early humans that went extinct about 40,000 years ago--may have been smart enough to take prehistoric versions of antibiotics and aspirin. Australian researchers analyzed the teeth of a Neanderthal in Spain from 50,000 years ago. His fossilized dental tartar showed that he'd eaten the fungus that's the source of penicillin and popped some aspirin (in the form of salicylic acid, found in tree bark). The Neanderthal seemed to have been suffering from tooth decay and digestive...