Neanderthals kissed with Homo sapiens and, between one escapade and another, they (self-)medicated, and some were predominantly vegetarian. Through the sequencing of traces of ancient DNA found in five dental plaque samples, we can see that the diet of their cousin Neanderthals was very varied: in the Spy Cave in Belgium, data indicate that the diet was almost exclusively meat-based. It included mostly woolly rhinoceros and mouflon, characteristic of steppe environments. In the El Sidrón Cave in Spain, however, the Neanderthal’s diet included mushrooms, moss, and pine nuts, reflecting a forest environment. In short, Neanderthals were well-adapted almost everywhere. The differences have been linked to a general shift in the oral bacterial community, where one microbiota suggested that meat consumption contributed to the variation in the Neanderthal microbiota itself. In a young individual, found in El Sidrón, a chronic gastrointestinal pathogen was identified.or, Enterocytozoon bieneusi, an obligate intracellular parasite that infects intestinal epithelial cells. Additionally, this individual also contained a nearly complete genome of Methanobrvibacter oralis,Dated approximately 48,000 years ago. What’s unusual is that many salivary bacteria are shared with our species, which could indicate that Homo sapiens and Neanderthals kissed (or spat on each other…). Nothing too unusual, given that the two species mated, and between one fling and another, a kiss or two was inevitable. But this individual didn’t miss out, as the El Sidrón remains provide evidence of self-medication: this Neanderthal individual had a dental abscess, which he treated with “natural products.” Indeed, traces of poplar bark, from which acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin, for example) is extracted, were found in the adolescent’s tartar; and penicillium fungus, which produces the antibiotic penicillin. These substances were probably used for self-medication, as indicated by other findings in El Sidrón, such as traces of yarrow and chamomile, bitter plants that were eaten for their properties.
