Overview
- The study published Sept. 9, 2026 in Science Advances reports that two rare skeletons from Sulawesi carry a novel dental wear pattern linked to habitual betel‑nut sucking.
- Researchers dated one individual to about 25,000–16,000 years ago and the other to about 7,600–6,300 years ago and found deep, rounded grooves in their teeth that exposed pulp in places.
- Biochemical tests detected arecoline, the betel nut’s main psychoactive alkaloid, in dental tissues and experiments showed soaking intact nuts in artificial saliva released neuroactive amounts.
- Receptor assays using frog egg cells expressing human neural proteins indicated the released arecoline could affect human brain receptors, supporting the idea that sucking produced a mild numbing or stimulant effect.
- Authors say the practice likely served as pain relief that worsened dental damage and became self‑reinforcing, but they note the finding rests on two individuals and call for more samples and wider testing to map how widespread the behavior was.