摘要：
　　科学家日前公布的一项研究结果显示，早在电钻和麻醉剂发明之前，早期人类就开始通过在牙齿上钻孔的方法来医治蛀牙。
　　Long before the invention of electric drills and anesthesia early humans drilled teeth to treat decay, according to research published Wednesday.

　　据路透社4月6日报道，法国Poitiers大学的科学家罗伯特·马基亚切利表示，由于当时没有现在所使用的金属工具，9000年前人们用来钻牙的工具其实是一个燧石的尖头。

　　报道说，通过在巴基斯坦的挖掘工作，马基亚切利和一支国际科研小组在一个墓穴中出土的9名早期成年人的臼齿上，发现了被钻出来的小孔。这个墓穴的年代可以追溯至7500年至9000年前。

　　马基亚切利在《自然》杂志上发表文章说："这些发现为早期农耕文明中长期存在着一种原始牙科医术提供了证据。"

　　在这9名成年人遗骨中，有4名女性、两名男性，另外3人无法确定性别。科研小组发现，他们一共有11个牙齿被钻了孔。其中一个人的3颗牙齿上有钻孔，另外一个人的一颗牙齿还被钻了两次。

　　马基亚切利说，另外还有4颗牙齿显示出了钻孔和蛀牙有关的迹象，这说明当时人们可能用钻孔法治疗牙病或减轻牙痛。

　　科研小组说，在这一地区在牙齿上钻孔这种做法曾一直延续了1500年之久。

（国际在线独家资讯 王高山）

　　But in the absence of modern metal tools the Neolithic drill of choice 9,000 years ago was a flint head, according to Roberto Macchiarelli, of the University of Poitiers in France.

　　While excavating in Pakistan, Macchiarelli and a team of international scientists found drilled molars from nine adults discovered in a grave that date from 7,500 to 9,000 years ago.

　　"These findings provide evidence for a long tradition of a type of proto-dentistry in an early farming culture," Macchiarelli said in a report in the journal Nature.

　　The four females, two males and three people whose gender was unknown had a total of 11 drilled teeth. One had three drilled teeth and another had a tooth that had been drilled twice.

　　"Four teeth show signs of decay associated with the hole, indicating that the intervention in some cases could have been therapeutic or palliative," he added.

　　Some type of filling may have been used but the researchers said there is no remaining evidence to confirm it. Drilling teeth seems to have continued for 1,500 years in the area before stopping, according to the scientists.

　　"Presumably, the know-how originally developed by skilled artisans for bead production was successfully transferred to drilling teeth in a form of proto-dentistry," said Macchiarelli.