Neanderthal innovation: birch pitch against Staphylococcus aureus
Neanderthals may have used birch pitch not only as glue for tools, but also for medicinal purposes. This is suggested by a new experimental study that investigated the antibacterial potential of the material obtained from birch bark. Researchers from the Universities of Cologne, Oxford, Liège and Cape Breton University in Canada produced birch pitch using prehistoric methods and tested its effect against bacteria.
The experiments showed that all samples produced inhibited the growth of Staphylococcus aureus – a pathogen that plays a central role in wound infections and is now one of the multi-resistant hospital germs. The antibiotic effect occurred regardless of the production method used, whether by underground dry distillation in a pit or by condensation on a stone surface.
The results indicate that the antimicrobial properties of birch pitch could have been used specifically as early as the Paleolithic Age. The researchers also see this as an indication of more conscious medical behavior on the part of Neanderthals. They also consider the findings to be relevant in the fight against increasing antibiotic resistance: Prehistoric and ethnographic substances could provide clues for new, targeted active ingredients.
The study, entitled “Antibacterial properties of experimentally produced birch tar and its medicinal affordances in the Pleistocene”, was published in the journal PLOS ONE.
Original Paper:
Editor: X-Press Journalistenbüro GbR
Gender Notice. The personal designations used in this text always refer equally to female, male and diverse persons. Double/triple naming and gendered designations are used for better readability. ected.
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