phew I kinda feel good about living in this modern age. The article doesn't mention anesthesia but maybe neanderthals used it ? feels like drilling out a cavity with stone tools would benefit from anesthesia

drilling out a cavity with stone tools would benefit from anesthesia

Probably just used a larger stone.

😂 In Earth's Children, the main character occasionally uses anesthetic beverages to operate on others painlessly. I don't know how documented that is. When I have some free time, I'll look up anesthetic use during the neolithic upper paleolithic.

"Nurse, prep patient."

"Yes, doctor."

hits patient in the head with a club to knock him out

Ty, best one ive heard today🤣

I wonder what they then filled the cavity with.

Reminder that Neanderthals had bigger brains than us on average. FWIW.

I suppose they could make wine, but anything stronger would require distilling. I’m not sure if they were capable of that? Though maybe there were other things they could smoke or ingest. Opium comes to mind, but not sure if that was available in the geographic regions you would find Neanderthals?

Pine resin can be made into a glue that hardens quite well. Easy enough to replace if needed. However I have no idea if they used that.

I don't think there is evidence of neanderthals making pottery. Unlikely that they would be able to make alcohol.

So neanderthals had a more accessible healthcare system than we do gotcha

https://news.berkeley.edu/2025/09/17/in-the-wild-chimps-likely-ingest-the-equivalent-of-several-alcoholic-drinks-every-day/ Wouldn't necessarily need pottery.

Yokel anesthesia

We didn't have any kind of local anesthesia until they figured out cocaine could do this near the end of the 1800s.

That's true enough, but also not reliable. There are not perfectly rotten fruits lying around at all times and places to be used for tooth surgery.

ah, yes, alcohol. Why not ! I don't know where opium grows. In the books they use datura !

Cloves were about as close as you could get before that.

Amber-style teeth sound pretty rad, honestly.

Medicinal plants to manage pain have been used since the dawn of time. Western medecine took a while to care about how patients feel though.

Holy fuck.

Can you imagine some guy drilling holes into your teeth with nothing but elbow grease and a stone drill? Desperation will drive you to madness, I guess.

There are if you start taking them with you because funny fruit makes you feel good.

It probably hurt so bad already that this felt like a last resort. People used to say bugs or gremlins or w/e caused tooth pain so Neander Von Thal might have been begging to have it popped

So, is this a Time Traveler, trying to use technology from the period of time they are supposed to belong in?

Friends and sharp rocks stay free, it’s just the nerd shit like medical training and anesthesia you’ve gotta pay for

One anesthesia pleaaaaseee!!!