LATEST ANTHRO SNIPPET:

Chimp Civil War

A long list of primatologists just presented information on the chimpanzee of the Kibale National park in Uganda that demonstrates that chimpanzees, like humans, sometimes change the very nature of their social group. In this case, over many years, the chimps split their social group into two opposing factions. Using 30 years of demographic data, they recorded that how these chimps eventually divided what was once thought of as a permanent group into two distinct groups that then became aggressive toward each other.ch has Calling this social change “polarization” the researchers show that civil war is not limited to humans.

Neanderthals Experienced Root Canals

An excavation at Chagyrskaya Cave (Altai Krai, Russia) recovered a Neanderthal lower left second molar that has the marks of a root canal, suggesting that Neanderthals practiced dentistry. Using a drill fashioned from stone, someone delicately drilled out decay and pulp from this molar. Although there was no remaining filler (and no crown) archaeologists suggest the tooth was probably packed with beeswax or other materials. And no sign of any kind of anesthetic. This information pushes the practice of dentistry back to 40,000 years ago, and it appeared in a cousin of humans, not in Homo sapiens sapiens. It also means these cousins understood the dangers of infection.

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