Ancient Sulawesi Hunter-Gatherers Used Betel Nuts
A study of two ancient individuals from Sulawesi, Indonesia, reveals they repeatedly sucked betel nuts, likely to numb dental pain.
Hunter-gatherers on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi may have sucked betel nuts to relieve severe toothaches, according to a new archaeological study. Researchers from Griffith University analyzed grooves in the heavily damaged teeth of two individuals, one dating to between 25,000 and 16,000 years ago and another from between 7,600 and 6,300 years ago.
The Dental Evidence
Both individuals were between 40 and 50 years old at death. Their teeth showed significant wear and deep grooves consistent with repeated, long-term sucking of a hard object. Adam Brumm of Griffith University led the examination. The team identified that the grooves on one tooth were so profound they had exposed the tooth's inner pulp cavity. "It would have been excruciatingly painful," Brumm stated. Chemical analysis of dental samples confirmed the presence of traces from the betel nut, a palm seed known scientifically as Areca catechu.
A Simple Analgesic Practice
The research suggests a straightforward medicinal use for the nut. Betel nuts contain arecoline, a neuroactive substance. Laboratory tests on genetically-engineered frog eggs demonstrated that arecoline can numb nerve cells. Sucking on the intact nut alone would have produced a localized numbing effect in the mouth, offering temporary relief from dental pain. This practice represents a form of prehistoric dentistry or pain management. However, Brumm explained that this very habit likely worsened their dental health over a lifetime, contributing to the severe damage observed.
Evolution of Betel Use
The study posits a significant evolution in the cultural use of betel. The simple sucking of the nut for analgesic purposes appears to be the precursor to a more complex tradition. Approximately 4,000 years later, during Sulawesi's Neolithic period, people began combining betel nut with slaked lime. This mixture creates a stimulant that is still widely used across South Asia and Oceania today. "It now seems probable that betel chewing as we know it evolved from a much simpler, older practice of just sucking on the intact nut," Brumm concluded. This finding pushes back the evidence for betel use in the region by thousands of years.
The research is based on material evidence from the teeth themselves, linking specific dental pathology with residue analysis to build its case. The two individuals provide a snapshot of a persistent practice across millennia in Sulawesi, long before the rise of agriculture and complex betel-chewing rituals.
