How Did Ancient Humans Survive Pain Without Painkillers?

For almost all of human history there was no pharmacy. People still lived through rotting teeth, crushed skulls and holes drilled into their heads. How? The plants were real, but the bones point to something stranger: the oldest painkiller our species ever had was each other. 0:00 How Did Ancient Humans Deal With Pain? 1:18 The First Medicine Cabinet 4:04 The Hole in the Head 5:59 Someone Stayed 8:09 What We Don't Know 8:57 The Oldest Painkiller 10:53 What To Do With This SOURCES Neanderthal tooth tartar (poplar, Penicillium): Weyrich et al. (2017), "Neanderthal behaviour, diet, and disease inferred from ancient DNA in dental calculus", Nature 544. https://www.nature.com/articles/natur... Ötzi's tattoos over worn joints: Samadelli et al. (2015), "Complete mapping of the tattoos of the 5300-year-old Tyrolean Iceman", Journal of Cultural Heritage Willow, from the Ebers Papyrus to aspirin: Montinari, Minelli & De Caterina (2019), "The first 3500 years of aspirin history from its roots", Vascular Pharmacology Opium poppies at La Marmotta, Italy: PLOS One (2023). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.... Ensisheim, two healed trepanations: Alt et al. (1997), "Evidence for stone age cranial surgery", Nature 387. https://www.nature.com/articles/387360a0 Peru vs the Civil War: Kushner, Verano & Titelbaum (2018), "Trepanation Procedures/Outcomes: Comparison of Prehistoric Peru with Other Ancient, Medieval, and American Civil War Cranial Surgery", World Neurosurgery Shanidar 1: Trinkaus & Villotte (2017), "External auditory exostoses and hearing loss in the Shanidar 1 Neandertal", PLOS One. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.... The toothless Dmanisi skull: Lordkipanidze et al. (2005), "The earliest toothless hominin skull", Nature 434. https://www.nature.com/articles/434717b A partner's hand or photo reduces pain: Master et al. (2009), "A Picture's Worth: Partner Photographs Reduce Experimentally Induced Pain", Psychological Science Social laughter raises pain thresholds: Dunbar et al. (2012), Proceedings of the Royal Society B 279. https://royalsocietypublishing.org/do... Social laughter releases the brain's own opioids: Manninen et al. (2017), Journal of Neuroscience 37 This isn't medical advice. Don't skip your medicine. New episodes every Wednesday. #ancienthumans #psychology #history #science #humanevolution