Oldest use of glue

Around 200,000 years ago, our Neanderthal ancestors made spears by bonding a flint point to a wooden shaft. The clever bit comes from the fact that tar glue made from tree bark was used to join the flint and wood together. Scientists thought that extracting tar glue from birch bark would be a step too advanced for Neanderthals, but evidence of the use was found in archaeological finds from the Middle Pleistocene era (circa 200,000 years ago). In reality, in 2017, scientists at Leiden University, Holland, found that tar glue could be made by simply heating rolls of birch bark over an open fire. More proof that Neanderthals were a lot more creative than their previously popular image.