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Learn the real stories behind the original paleo diet, Stone Age dentists, and cavewoman hunters.
Host Justin Dodd (@juddtoday) breaks down some common myths and misconceptions about the Stone Age.
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Misconceptions About the Stone Age | Mental Floss
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0:00
When you think of the Stone Age, your mind is probably filled with images of rock tools
0:03
thick brows, and woolly mammoth dishwashers. What you probably don't think about are surgeons
0:08
or dentists performing operations thousands of years before medical textbooks were even a
0:13
possibility. Over the years, archaeologists have found more than 1,500 Neolithic-era skulls in
0:18
Europe, Asia, and the Americas that have holes in them. Some researchers have concluded that
0:22
this is evidence of a primitive form of trepanning, a once-common procedure in which a hole would be
0:27
drilled or cut into a person's skull to relieve pressure after an injury
0:31
New bone growth around the edges of the hole suggests that some of these patients actually
0:35
live for months or years after the procedures. Archaeologists have even found a cow skull
0:39
with a similar hole in it, suggesting that there were either Stone Age vets at work or
0:44
that the bovine was used for practice. Scientists observed evidence of brain disease or head
0:48
injuries in some of the skulls, which might explain caveman MD turning to such a procedure
0:53
Other times, though, there was no previous trauma to be found, leading many to believe
0:57
that some of these procedures were performed solely as rituals. Prehistoric societies might have also attempted to take care of their teeth better than we
1:03
once assumed. In 2017, an international team of researchers wrote about two teeth they found in Italy
1:09
dating back 13,000 years. The two incisors had holes chiseled into them and had diseased tissues scraped out, likely
1:16
with the help of a sharp stone. The teeth were then packed with bitumen, a type of waterproof tar
1:21
sounds a little bit like your last trip to the dentist, it should. While there's no way of
1:25
knowing for sure, the researchers theorized that this could have been an early attempt at filling a cavity. Just be thankful that we at least have anesthesia now
1:33
I'm your host, Justin Dodd, and today we're heading back in time to debunk some of the most popular myths about the Stone Age in this prehistoric edition of Misconceptions
1:41
The Stone Age encompasses more than 95% of human history. It began at least 2.6 million years ago
1:55
when researchers found the earliest evidence of humans using stone tools, and lasted until about
2:00
3300 BCE with the birth of the Bronze Age and the use of metal tools. To simplify things, we break
2:06
the Stone Age into three distinct periods. The Paleolithic period, or the Old Stone Age
2:11
Mesolithic period, or Mid-Stone Age, and Neolithic period, or New Stone Age
2:16
Because of just how long ago it was, we tend to think there wasn't a whole lot that connects
2:20
our modern world to our ancestors. But as we'll see, most of our basic needs haven't changed much
2:25
especially when it comes to satisfying our craving for some savory meats and wonderful carbs
2:30
Stone Age food was unrecognizable Turns out that prehistoric meals might not have been all that different from your last takeout order In 1991 a 5 mummy was discovered
2:41
in a glacier in Europe. When the mummy, whose scientists nicknamed Oatsy
2:45
had the contents of his stomach examined, they found the remains of some goat meat
2:49
That, in itself, wasn't strange, but then they realized the meat wasn't cooked
2:53
it was dry cured. Or to put it another way, Oatsy's last meal was basically goat bacon
2:58
We also know that late Stone Age chefs we're cooking with many of the spices in your cabinet today. Fossilized turmeric, capers
3:04
and coriander have all been found in prehistoric cooking vessels, along with charred meat and fish
3:10
Predating even that, pots found in Germany from around 6,000 years ago have traces of
3:14
garlic mustard seeds and possibly deer meat. According to researchers, this is the earliest
3:19
evidence we have of spices being used in food. Archaeologist Haley Saul, who led the study
3:24
emphasized that the discovery of the spices helped change the way we perceive our ancestors
3:28
She told NPR that these meals weren't just about delivering calories. Early humans were also enjoying their food and exercising a bit of creativity to find new flavors
3:37
You might assume from the paleo diet that people of that time ate mounds of meaty steak and no grains
3:43
But that's another myth. Figuring out what prehistoric people ate is an ever-evolving field of study
3:48
And considering we're talking about thousands of years, trends surely changed over time
3:53
There probably isn't any one paleo diet. I mean, people today enjoy mocking recipes from the 1950s, and that was less than 1,000 years ago, by my math
4:01
But the available evidence from the time period shows that grains were on the menu
4:05
Oatsy had einkorn wheat in his stomach, and there's new evidence that some cultures were baking bread as far back as 14,000 years ago
4:12
predating the birth of agriculture by about 4,000 years. At a dig site in Jordan, archaeologists discovered charred breadcrumbs in large, circular fireplaces inside two buildings
4:21
In terms of taste, think of it like a multi-grain flatbread. Slap some roasted gazelle on it, you got yourself a Paleolithic wrap
4:29
Stone Age life was relentlessly serious and oppressive. On the subject of bread, since it required so much time and involved ingredients that
4:36
were harder to come by, scientists theorized that it was usually made for feasts and other celebrations
4:42
That's because, while it's easy to imagine Stone Age life as an endless barrage of hunting
4:46
hunger, and violence, there was more than enough room for some partying along the way
4:50
During the late Neolithic period, the area surrounding Stonehenge may have played host
4:54
to massive feasts and celebrations that included travelers from all over what is today the United Kingdom
5:00
Archaeologists have unearthed tens of thousands of animal bones from the area
5:04
many of which were young pigs around 9 months old that showed clear signs of butchery and scorch marks likely from being roasted Further ysis concluded they were probably eaten as part of a mid celebration It believed that a tenth of the population of Britain at the time might have attended this massive feast with some of the pigs coming
5:21
from as far as Scotland. In addition to celebrating the mid-winter festivities
5:25
the food was probably eaten by early humans as they built the mysterious megaliths of Stonehenge
5:30
With all that roast pig, you'd probably want a beer to wash it all down. Well
5:34
Could have been a possibility, too. See, the discovery of beer usually gets lumped into the
5:38
early days of the Bronze Age some 5,000 years ago, but a team of scientists led by Lee Lu of
5:43
Stanford University believe they found traces of prehistoric suds at a Natufian burial site in a
5:49
cave near Haifa in Israel. This rudimentary alcoholic drink was apparently made of wheat
5:53
and barley that was stored in 25-inch deep stone mortars that were likely used for storing food
5:58
around 13,000 years ago. The scientists say it was weaker and more gruel-like than beers of today
6:03
but it was still a fermented grain-based alcohol that was wetting whistles thousands of years before
6:08
the previous historical record could account for. Life took place mostly in caves
6:13
It's not necessarily a misconception that Stone Age people lived in caves and grunted
6:18
and carried around big honking clubs. They most certainly did some of those things at some point
6:22
But that doesn't account for the entire two-plus-million-year timespan of the age
6:27
In the early Neolithic period, so around 4,000 to 3,600 BCE, people constructed their own
6:33
freestanding homes complete with fireplaces. We even know that many help make grand halls of timber
6:38
for their communities, remnants of which have been found throughout the UK. One house discovered in
6:42
North Yorkshire dates back more than 10,000 years, when Britain was still part of the European
6:47
mainland. According to a report out of the University of Manchester, scientists concluded
6:51
that generations of hunters occupied the house for anywhere from 200 to 500 years
6:56
and that it underwent repairs and rebuilds at various points. The findings were reported in
7:00
2010, and it illustrates how some of these seemingly nomadic hunter-gatherers after the
7:05
last Ice Age may have actually stuck around in single communities and had more of an attachment
7:09
to their land than we thought. Stone Age women didn't get involved in the action
7:14
In 2018, a team of archaeologists in Peru found the skeletal remains of what looked like a
7:19
prehistoric male hunter who was buried alongside weaponry and other hunter-gatherer tools around
7:24
9,000 years ago. The team originally assumed they had simply discovered the resting place of a
7:28
a high-ranking chief, which would have been a nice find, but nothing worthy of too many headlines
7:34
until they observed that the bones were lighter than usual. After more examination, they found the skeleton
7:38
was actually that of a young woman anywhere from 17 to 19 years old
7:42
which means it likely that at least some women were involved in bringing down game in different Stone Age societies This young hunter isn alone We found other skeletons of women across the Americas who were buried with hunting tools suggesting that our conception of men as the only hunters in Stone
7:57
Age societies is an oversimplification at best. Even when Stone Age societies shifted toward
8:02
agriculture during the Neolithic era, women still provided an integral, physical role in
8:06
their community's survival. And whatever they were doing on those early farms must have been rigorous
8:11
because when scientists tested a group of skeletons of women from a prehistoric agricultural
8:15
society who lived around 7,400 years ago, they found that their arm bones would have been 11
8:20
to 16% stronger than the women on Cambridge's 2017 championship rowing team
8:26
Neanderthals were hunched over furry oafs. There's a picture of Neanderthals that our
8:31
modern culture just can't seem to shake. It's of the short, thick-browed brute who walked hunched
8:36
over and was covered head-to-toe in matted, mud-kicked body hair. Turns out there's a lot
8:41
that's wrong about that image, or at least less certain than you might believe. A 2019 study out
8:46
of the University of Zurich used computer modeling of a Neanderthal skeleton found in La Chapelle of
8:50
Saint-France in the early 20th century. Their ysis suggests that this Neanderthal had the
8:55
same lower back and neck curvatures as we do today. This means he likely stood as upright as
9:00
our more recent Homo sapiens ancestors. And Neanderthals might have done so without all that
9:05
excess body hair you got to know while watching Captain Caveman. In fact, they might not have been
9:10
much hairier than we are today. Neanderthals' hairiness, furriness, or relatively close
9:14
resemblance to modern humans is an open question in the field. One 2003 study speculated Neanderthals
9:20
had a sparse covering of 1.5-inch hairs across the entire body, which might have been as warm
9:25
as a light layer of clothing, perfect for those Ice Age nights, but not as hairy as some would have it
9:30
It's quite plausible that we'll never know exactly how they look since we just can't seem to stumble
9:34
upon any perfectly preserved Neanderthals. But remember, while humans didn't evolve from genetic mutations within Neanderthals
9:41
many of us do have some Neanderthal DNA in us today due to the forbidden dance of interspecies romance
9:47
Unless you're solely of African ancestry, chances are you have about 1-4% Neanderthal
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DNA in every cell. And scientists have discovered that some of these gene variants can have an impact on plenty
9:58
of stuff you're dealing with on a daily basis, such as whether you pick up smoking, get sunburned
10:03
often, or are prone to depression
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