Story perspectives

59,000-Year-Old Neanderthal Tooth Drilled, Earliest Dental Surgery

5/20/2026

Summary

Story summary

A 59,000-year-old Neanderthal molar from Chagyrskaya Cave in Siberia was deliberately drilled with a stone tool, the earliest known invasive dental treatment.
Researchers Ksenia Kolobova (Russian Academy of Sciences) and Alisa Zubova (Peter the Great Museum) published the study in PLOS One, demonstrating that modern-tooth experiments replicate the grooves.
The authors say the procedure required diagnosis, planning, precise hand movements and likely a helper, showing sophisticated cognition in Neanderthals.

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Story summary

A 59,000-year-old Neanderthal molar from Chagyrskaya Cave in Siberia was deliberately drilled with a stone tool, the earliest known invasive dental treatment.
Researchers Ksenia Kolobova (Russian Academy of Sciences) and Alisa Zubova (Peter the Great Museum) published the study in PLOS One, demonstrating that modern-tooth experiments replicate the grooves.
The authors say the procedure required diagnosis, planning, precise hand movements and likely a helper, showing sophisticated cognition in Neanderthals.