Early History

Black lumps of birch bark tar with well-defined human tooth impressions dating back to 7000 b.c.e., the Early Mesolithic era, have been found in Germany, Scandinavia, and elsewhere in Northern Europe. No one knows for certain whether prehistoric people chewed tar for purposes of pleasure, stimulation, medicine, and/or ritual. Studies of the tooth impressions indicate that the majority of chewers were children of the age when baby teeth fall out, so it may be that tar was chewed to reduce oral discomfort. Exactly how the tar was produced is also a mystery, as it can only be derived from bark under extreme heat (well over 1472°F [800°C]) and in air-free conditions, a technology known only since the Neolithic Era, beginning around 10,000 b.c.e. Sealed pots were unknown in the Early Mesolithic—perhaps the tar was formed during natural conflagrations.