Neanderthal man in Poland

7th February 2010

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Polish archaeologists have discovered three Neanderthal teeth in a cave close to Krakow.

The actual find was made back in 2008 but it was kept under wraps while tests were carried out to determine how old they were.

According to Dr. Mikolaj Urbanski of the Department of Archaeology at the University of Szczecin, the discovery is significant as it goes some way to proving that Neanderthal man existed in Poland. It also suggests he used some form of tooth pick and had good dental hygiene.

Speaking to TVP, the research team boss said “We can see that on at least one of these teeth there has been a simple tool used to ensure hygiene - and that tool was a sort of tooth pick.”

While only one of the teeth has undergone tests, it is almost certain that the other two also belonged to Neanderthals who lived somewhere in the region of 100,000 to 80,000 years ago.

Although a number of artefacts have been uncovered in this country before, it’s the first time that actual Neanderthal bodily remains have been found.

The teeth were discovered in the Stajnia Cave, north of the Carpathian Mountains with other objects including various flint tools and the bones of both the woolly mammoth and the woolly rhinoceros.

In addition to these, the team also came across a hammer constructed from the antlers of a reindeer and cave bear bones featuring cut marks, which show that they were eaten.

“The cave bears were big, dangerous animals and this supports the view the Neanderthals were really efficient hunters,” adds Urbanowski.