Italian Scientists Find 6,500-Yr-Old Filling in Human Tooth Embedded in Cave Wall

Have you guys seen this?

This is pretty cool science. It actually proves that we weren't all that savage and undeveloped thousands of years ago..

And again, begs the question... Where did this knowledge come from? Was it spontaneous, did it happen gradually? Who first thought to even plug cavities with something?

Or do you think it was an accident?

Here is the link to the article:

"An ancient cracked tooth repaired with a filling made of beeswax may be the earliest known example of therapeutic dentistry, researchers say.

The tooth is 65 centuries old and was part of a man’s jaw found more than 100 years ago in Slovenia.

Definite evidence of ancient dentistry is rare. The oldest examples are 7,500- to 9,500-year-old molars found in Pakistan that had regularly shaped cavities with concentric ridges drilled into them. Other, more questionable finds include a 5,500-year-old artificial tooth from Egypt.

Scientists reported online Wednesday in the journal PLoS ONE that they found the filling as they analyzed a 6,500-year-old lower jaw recovered from a cave near Trieste, Italy. The jaw, which once belonged to a 24- to 30-year-old man, included a left canine tooth possessing a vertical crack in its hard enamel and softer dentin layers. The severe wear and tear seen on the tooth was probably due to activities besides eating, the researchers said — for instance, men of the time might have used their teeth to soften leather or help make tools, and the women bit down on threads to hold them while weaving."

More here:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/49094441/ns/technology_and_science-science/#.UFyrRUXyaCN

 

No,I hadn't heard out this,but it brings to mind the old saying about 'there's nothing new under the sun' doesn't it.

Beeswax dentistry 6,500 years ago!

[do you reckon he went private?]

 

I wonder if those ancient dentists were as sadistic as the ones today.

 

Cool stuff

 

"Juuust relax,that's it.
Open wide......this may sting a bit.....so,are you and Mrs Caveman going anywhere nice this year?"

 

Man, this doods teeth hurt so much he was biting the walls!

 

There has always been Dentists. :devil:

 

yep, same guys that did the trepanning

 

Odd way to get to someone's teeth... Just sayin'


.

 

You know that is an interesting point...

How the heck DID his skull become part of that rock.....

Also that is one SICK photo of them digging into his brain, I guess that proves that even early on we were curious about everything!

Still, I find it hard to believe that we would supposedly go from making paintings out of scat to dentistry in the same broad stroke.

And if dentists have been around since the beginning of time... Wonder who the first insurance was, or how they paid for it?

"I'll take 700 crabs legs now...." or... "I'll take 2 bushels of berries."??

 

Well, some patients are really reluctant to opening their mouth.