Neandertals Apparently Knew Medicinal Plants

[Garland-Green]

by Brian Thomas, M.S.

The Institute for Creation Research has long identified Neandertals as fully human.1 But for decades, evolutionists had labeled this extinct variety of humankind as sub-human, alleging that they had eaten mostly meat.

A 1970 book titled Early Man illustrated a migrating Neandertal family wearing animal skins and carrying clubs. Part of the caption reads, "At left a man is carrying small game for provisions—a rabbit and a waterfowl—indicating that Neanderthalers hunted other creatures besides cave bears and woolly rhinoceroces."2 The book doesn't mention Neandertals eating plants for food or for medicine. But a recent forensic analysis of Neandertal teeth takes a bite out of this old evolutionary story.

Researchers studied tooth calculus, or tartar, from the teeth of five Neandertals found in El Sidrón Cave in North Spain. They used advanced techniques that detect trace amounts of certain chemicals. They wrote in the journal Naturwissenschaften,

By using these methods in conjunction with the extraction and analysis of plant microfossils, we have found chemical evidence consistent with wood-fire smoke, a range of cooked starchy foods, two plants known today for their medicinal qualities, and bitumen or oil shale entrapped within the dental calculus. Yet within the same calculus, chemical evidence for lipids/proteins from meat was low to absent.3

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[guy30]

That they used plants medicinally is no surprise, they did bury their dead with flowers after all.  

[Garland-Green]

guy30

That they used plants medicinally is no surprise, they did bury their dead with flowers after all.

I am sure it surprised some people. ^_^

Quote from an article at national geographic;
"surprisingly few traces of meat-associated proteins or lipid"  

[Garland-Green]

OtakuKat

Wow that's awesome! It's amazing how God can use science to debunk false beliefs.

The truth will out (Luke 8:17). 3nodding