What Did Ancient Humans Do When They Got Sick?

That pill you take for a headache feels like modern science. But a Neanderthal with a dental abscess was chewing a natural painkiller about 49,000 years ago, and a child in Borneo survived an amputation 31,000 years ago. So when did medicine actually begin, and who was the first patient? We follow the evidence from ancient DNA in tooth plaque to a chimp and an orangutan treating their own wounds. We discuss: Stone Age Painkillers: what ancient DNA in Neanderthal tooth plaque at El Sidrón reveals about a sick individual. The Man Who Shouldn't Have Survived: the Shanidar Neanderthal who lived for years with severe injuries. The First Surgery: an amputation 31,000 years ago in Borneo, and the medicine kit Ötzi the Iceman carried. Animal Medicine: why chimpanzees and an orangutan named Rakus suggest medicine is older than humans. If you've ever been handed soup and a blanket while sick, this story is about you. Chapters: 0:00 The oldest habit you have 0:15 Older than pharmacies and doctors 0:31 "But plants rot. How could we know?" 0:48 A Neanderthal with a toothache 1:21 Poplar, mold and a forest salad 2:04 Or did he just eat bark? 2:50 The man who shouldn't have survived 3:38 Surgery 31,000 years ago 4:54 The Iceman's medicine kit 5:57 The chimp who took her medicine 6:37 The orangutan with a bandage 7:19 The toothless skull 7:58 The real invention 8:32 The timeline 8:57 Back to your headache Sources: Weyrich, L. S. et al. (2017). "Neanderthal behaviour, diet, and disease inferred from ancient DNA in dental calculus." Nature. Hardy, K. et al. (2012). "Neanderthal medics? Evidence for food, cooking, and medicinal plants entrapped in dental calculus." Naturwissenschaften. Buck, L. T. & Stringer, C. B. (2014). "Having the stomach for it: a contribution to Neanderthal diets?" Quaternary Science Reviews. Solecki, R. S. (1971). Shanidar: The First Flower People. Knopf. Trinkaus, E. (1983). The Shanidar Neandertals. Academic Press. Trinkaus, E. & Villotte, S. (2017). "External auditory exostoses and hearing loss in the Shanidar 1 Neandertal." PLoS ONE. Maloney, T. R. et al. (2022). "Surgical amputation of a limb 31,000 years ago in Borneo." Nature. Capasso, L. (1998). "5300 years ago, the Ice Man used natural laxatives and antibiotics." The Lancet. Huffman, M. A. & Seifu, M. (1989). "Observations on the illness and consumption of a possibly medicinal plant Vernonia amygdalina by a wild chimpanzee in the Mahale Mountains National Park, Tanzania." Primates. Laumer, I. B. et al. (2024). "Active self-treatment of a facial wound with a biologically active plant by a male Sumatran orangutan." Scientific Reports. Lordkipanidze, D. et al. (2005). "The earliest toothless hominin skull." Nature. DeGusta, D. (2002). "Comparative skeletal pathology and the case for conspecific care in Middle Pleistocene hominids." Journal of Archaeological Science. Spikins, P. et al. (2018). "Calculated or caring? Neanderthal healthcare in social context." World Archaeology. #ancienthumans #prehistory #humanhistory