WEBVTT - BrainStuff Classics: Did Neanderthals Use Glue?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff, Lauren voc Obam here with another classic episode

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<v Speaker 1>from our previous host, Christian Sagar. There was a time

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<v Speaker 1>when Neanderthal was used as an insult, with the implication

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<v Speaker 1>that this extinct species or perhaps subspecies of hominids, was

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<v Speaker 1>unintelligent and unsophisticated. But the more research that goes into

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<v Speaker 1>how Neanderthal's lived, the more we learn that they were

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<v Speaker 1>quite clever. For example, they made and used glue millennia

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<v Speaker 1>before we humans figured it out. Hey brain Stuff is

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<v Speaker 1>Christian Sagar here. There are some things people just can't

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<v Speaker 1>live without, so we invented them way before we ever

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<v Speaker 1>invented writing, coats, knives, roofs. Fire. Turns out, another thing

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<v Speaker 1>are prehistoric precursors needed that we still need today is

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<v Speaker 1>the ability to stick one thing to another thing and

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<v Speaker 1>then you know, have them stay that way, which is

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<v Speaker 1>why Neanderthals had glue. They might have been cavemen, but

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<v Speaker 1>they weren't savages. Now Homo neanderthal insists used their glue,

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<v Speaker 1>a viscous tar distilled from birch bark, to fix weapons

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<v Speaker 1>on the heads of a tool onto a halft or

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<v Speaker 1>maybe a handle, and Neanderthals were actually the leaders in

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<v Speaker 1>glue technology, beating US Homo sapiens to the punch by

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<v Speaker 1>more than a hundred thousand years. They began brewing tar

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<v Speaker 1>two hundred thousand years ago, whereas the earliest evidence of

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<v Speaker 1>modern humans using tree resin as adhesive appears less than

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<v Speaker 1>one hundred thousand years ago. Research published in twenty eleven

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<v Speaker 1>shows that Neanderthals had the ability to create and control fire.

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<v Speaker 1>So does the fact Neanderthals could manipulate fire to produce

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<v Speaker 1>tar prove they weren't as dimwitted as we like to assume.

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<v Speaker 1>Scientists have been curious about the process Neanderthal is used

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<v Speaker 1>to make their glue. A new study published in the

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<v Speaker 1>journal Nature Scientific Reports suggests three different ways Neanderthal tar

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<v Speaker 1>could have been manufactured. After all, it had to be produced.

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<v Speaker 1>This stuff wasn't just secreted from trees growing in the forest.

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<v Speaker 1>But how difficult was making tar? Tar making is definitely

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<v Speaker 1>a process no matter which way you go about it.

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<v Speaker 1>The research team figured that out through a fancy bit

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<v Speaker 1>of experimental archaeology. They devised three different potential methods of

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<v Speaker 1>extracting sticky stuff from birch bark, the ash mound method,

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<v Speaker 1>where tightly rolled layers of birch bark are covered in

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<v Speaker 1>ash and embers, the pit roll cigar roll method, where

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<v Speaker 1>one end of a birch roll is lit and placed

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<v Speaker 1>burning side down into a small collection pit, and the

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<v Speaker 1>raised structure method, where a birch bark container was placed

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<v Speaker 1>in a pit beneath an organic mesh which holds loosely

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<v Speaker 1>rolled bark that is then covered with earth and fire.

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<v Speaker 1>After recreating the three tar production methods, the scientists assessed

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<v Speaker 1>each according to three criteria the yield, temperature, and complexity.

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<v Speaker 1>The team found that though the simplest fastest method, the

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<v Speaker 1>ash mound method, yielded just a peace sized amount of tar,

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<v Speaker 1>the most complicated, time consuming method, that's the raised structure method,

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<v Speaker 1>produced fifteen to twenty times more and was also the

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<v Speaker 1>most efficient. They also observed that regulating the temperature of

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<v Speaker 1>the fire didn't make much of a difference to the product.

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<v Speaker 1>Even though they have no evidence that the Neanderthal way

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<v Speaker 1>of making tar was similar to any of their experimental methods,

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<v Speaker 1>making the connection between the birch bark, the fire, and

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<v Speaker 1>the tar would have required that Neanderthals possess a proclivity

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<v Speaker 1>for abstract thought, so whether they were making easy, inefficient

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<v Speaker 1>tar instead of something like the high yield method requiring

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<v Speaker 1>a folded cup and a little grill made of sticks,

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<v Speaker 1>Neanderthals had something going for them. They were seriously using

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<v Speaker 1>their brains, and who knows, it's possible they started with

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<v Speaker 1>a method similar to one and then moved on to

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<v Speaker 1>another overtime. Today's episode was written by Jesscelyn Shields and

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<v Speaker 1>produced by Tristan McNeil and Tyler Klang. For more on

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<v Speaker 1>this and lots of other sticky topics, is it how

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<v Speaker 1>stuff works dot com. Brain Stuff is production of my

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