SSS 2012-07-20

（单词翻译）

 You might picture Neanderthal cavemen gnaw¹ on bones around campfire. Which wouldn’t be inaccurate². But Neanderthal mayhave also dieted on roasted vegetables and known a bit about medicinal plants,too. So says a study in a journal N, the science of nature. Researchers analyzed³ hard in dental plaque⁴ from five Neanderthal found in O cave, in northern Spain.Yes, fifty thousand year old dental plaque. And they found a lot lurking⁵ between the teeth. Like evidence of nuts, grasses and green veggies, chemical traces of wood smoke and tiny intact stachy granules, proved Neanderthals ate their c… . In one individual, they detected a compound from medicinal chamomile in Y. Y is known in nutritional⁶ value. And since Neanderthals did have the genes⁷ to detect Y’s bitter taste. Researchers speculate that the cave dwellers⁸ ate so much m.. not as food but to self medicate. Not too farfetched they say, because primate⁹ like chimps¹⁰ also use medicinal plants. Luckily for scientists doing this detective works, Neanderthals may have known athing or two about medicine, but they didn't get regular check-ups at the dentist.