The simple wooden toothpick is among the simplest of all manufactured objects and is considered the oldest dental cleaning tool, one that extends more than the human species.
Several higher primates use similar objects to rub or pick their teeth, and growing archaeological evidence from across Europe suggests that Neanderthals also had a habit of taking food out of their mouths. We know this because it left quite an impression on their molars.
A newly analyzed tooth, discovered in a Polish cave in 2010, has now been found with a spindle-like groove on the side, indicating the inward and outward movement of a toothpick.
Dental measurements of upper premolar and radiocarbon dating in the area suggest that it once belonged to a 30-year-old Neanderthal man who had been brushing his teeth in this way for 46,000 years.
“It seems that the owner of the tooth used oral hygiene. There was probably food residue between the last two teeth that had to be removed,” explains archaeologist Wioletta Nowaczewska of the University of Wroclaw in an article for Science in Poland.
“We don’t know what a toothpick was made of – a piece of a twig, a piece of bone or a fish bone. It had to be a fairly rigid, cylindrical object that the individual used often enough to leave a clear trace. “
(Nowaczewska et al., Journal of Human Evolution, 2021)
Above: a) Radial wear model inside the premolar; b) A vertical notch groove visible below the wear side, on the right.
A handful of other teeth have been found in Stajnia Cave near Krakow, and they are also believed to belong to Neanderthals. Some of them even show similar attempts at prehistoric dental hygiene, although their deterioration makes them more difficult to study.
The remarkable condition of this newly analyzed molar has allowed scientists to perform 2D and 3D analyzes of its enamel, which is generally thinner in Neanderthals compared to homo sapiens.
Subsequent analysis of mitochondrial DNA confirmed that this tooth probably belonged to a Neanderthal and, according to the authors, the major groove of the tooth was most likely caused by mechanical abrasion.
The location, shape, orientation and appearance of this scratch match other signs of Neanderthals shaking their teeth in another part of Europe.
In 2017, archaeologists announced the discovery of a unique Neanderthal tooth found in present-day Croatia that showed picking and chiseling remains from 130,000 years ago – possibly as a way to relieve pain.
In 2013, older Neanderthal teeth, unearthed in present-day Spain, were rediscovered with similar impressions. A piece of wood was even found stuck between two of the molars.
Other materials that Neanderthals may have used to clean their teeth include bone, tendons and grass, although these have not yet been confirmed in archaeological records.
According to the famous engineer Henry Petroski, who wrote a whole book about toothpicks, this humble tool is one of the most convenient and prepared tools in the possession of man, which does not require assembly, maintenance and instructions for use – or at at least, it shouldn’t.
In the The hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy, even the words that eventually push the scientist Wonko into social desolation are directions for brushing teeth, which is believed to be the oldest human habit.
As Wonko remarked, “any civilization that has lost its head so far to need to include a set of detailed instructions for use in a pack of toothpicks was no longer a civilization in which I could live and remain. healthy”.
It would even seem that the Neanderthals, who are supposed to be primitive brutes, had common sense and intuition to use the toothpick – without much direction.
The study was published in Journal of Human Evolution.