Neanderthals Invent Birch Tar Adhesive

Archaeologists have found that Neanderthals deliberately heated birch bark in underground, low-oxygen pits to produce birch tar, the earliest known synthetic material. This tar does not form on its own in nature, so making it required planning, controlled fires, and an understanding that heat and smoke could transform raw bark into a sticky substance. They used the resulting birch tar to attach stone tools to handles.

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