Their results suggest the material may have done double duty in prehistoric life, helping attach stone tools while also offering a way to treat wounds
Archaeologists thought birch tar was mainly used as an adhesive. REPRESENTATION PIC/ISTOCK
Researchers have recreated birch tar using techniques associated with Neanderthals and tested whether it could slow bacterial growth.
Their results suggest the material may have done double duty in prehistoric life, helping attach stone tools while also offering a way to treat wounds. That possibility raises the question of whether Neanderthals recognised useful healing properties in natural substances and applied them deliberately.
Birch tar is a thick substance made from birch bark and is commonly found at Neanderthal archaeological sites in Europe. Because traces of it are often attached directly to stone artifacts, archaeologists have long thought its main use was as an adhesive for joining separate parts together.
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