You might picture Neanderthals as cavemen gnawing on…

You might picture Neanderthals as cavemen gnawing on bones around a campfire. Which wouldn't be 1. But Neanderthals may have also dined on roasted vegetables and known a bit about medicinal plants too. So says a study in the journal Naturwissenschaften (The Science of Nature) . Researchers 2 hardened dental plaque from five Neanderthals found in El Sidr髇 cave, in northern Spain. Yes, 50,000-year-old dental plaque. And they found a lot lurking between the teeth. Like evidence of nuts, grasses and green veggies, 3 traces of wood smoke, and tiny, intact starch granules, proof Neanderthals ate their carbs. And in one individual, they detected compounds found in the 4 herbs chamomile and yarrow. The herbs have no nutritional value, and since Neanderthals did have the gene to detect the herbs' bitter taste, the researchers 5 that the cave dwellers were munching on them not as food—but to self-medicate. Not too far-fetched, they say, because primates like chimps also use medicinal plants. Luckily for the scientists doing this 6 work, Neanderthals may have known a thing or two about medicine, but they didn't get regular check-ups at the dentist.