Overview
- An international team led by Oxford researcher Tjaark Siemssen reports that experimentally produced birch tar displayed antibacterial effects.
- Scientists targeted birch species known from Neanderthal contexts and replicated plausible extraction techniques, including clay‑pit distillation and stone‑surface condensation.
- In vitro assays found all tar samples hindered the growth of Staphylococcus bacteria associated with wound infections.
- The results support ethnographically documented Indigenous wound‑care uses of birch tar and reinforce the possibility that Neanderthals applied it therapeutically.
- Researchers say birch tar likely served multiple roles, from tool adhesive to potential insect repellent, and they frame the work as a palaeopharmacology lead for tackling antimicrobial resistance.