Like Neanderthals, early modern humans used their teeth as tools

[Judi Lynn]

New findings bolster the argument that the two groups of early humans had a lot of behavioral similarities.

BY KATHERINE J. WU WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2019

Though often hidden behind closed lips, teeth do a lot of heavy lifting in daily life. They’re the pearly whites flashed for smiles, the sharp powerhouses that grind our food.

Our teeth can also take the place of tools, removing pen caps, tearing open bags of chips, and snipping tags off new clothes. Dentists decry the practice, but it really comes in handy—literally: Sharp-edged and stable, teeth often function as well as fingers, earning the mouth the moniker of “third hand.”

“I use my mouth all the time when both my [actual] hands are tied up,” says biological anthropologist Kristin Krueger of Loyola University Chicago. “Sometimes, it’s the only way to get things done.”

Krueger’s not alone. Plenty of modern humans join her in this convenient form of dental dexterity—and that’s apparently been the case for tens of thousands of years.

More:
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/neanderthals-early-modern-humans-teeth-tools/



Really!