With Teeth: Dental Modifications in Antiquity

Figure 1: Incisor teeth inlaid with gold (Source: Ancient-Origins.net)

 

Move over pearly whites and golden grills!  The obsession with our teeth is not a recent phenomenon but one that started several millennia ago.  Intentional dental modifications were and continue to be a global phenomenon, but this blog post will focus on intentional dental modifications that existed in antiquity.  This topic will be explored through the prevalence, type, and motivations of the practice.

Dental modifications occur through various means, be it unintentionally or intentionally.  Unintentional dental modifications happen through repetitious motions related to occupation, accidental fractures, etc.  Intentional modifications, however, require forethought and desire to change the look or presence of teeth in the jaws.  It is quite common to alter teeth today through medical intervention, specifically through orthodontic treatment, but the earliest dental modification was practiced through a cruder means in the 7^th century BC among the Etruscans.  Intentional dental modification can be found among societies on every continent throughout antiquity, which underscores its popularity.

Figure 2: Dental Cutting/Filing (Source: University of Minnesota-Duluth)

 

These modifications were meant to be flashy and noticed, and therefore they were isolated to the labial teeth, specifically the incisors and canines.  Intentional dental modifications included tooth removal, inlays (Figure 1), cutting (Figure 2), incising (Figure 3), and staining teeth.  A variety of different patterns were used to cut and incise teeth, which varied culturally.  Teeth were drilled for gold, pyrite, and jade inlays, which were cut precisely to fit into the tooth/teeth.  Tooth staining occurred through the habitual chewing of specific plants, such as betel leaves, tobacco, or coca.

The motivations for practicing intentional dental modifications varied cross culturally, as well.  They included rites of passage, ethnicity, social status, aesthetics, mourning the loss of a loved one, fighting off evil spirits, appear fearsome in battle, or other more obscure reasons.  Some scholars have debated if gender was a motivating factor in completing dental modifications, but this does not seem to be the case.  The most common motivation cited in the literature is social status, though, which is not too far off from modern motivations for intentional dental modifications.

Figure 3: Incised teeth (Source: Forsyth Gallery)

In conclusion, intentional dental modifications have a long history among human groups worldwide.  The types and motivations for such practices vary and provide great insights into the groups that practiced it.  With what we currently know about dental modification one would think that we have discovered all of the secrets associated with this practice, but that is not the case.  New information is constantly being discovered, and it will be interesting to see what information is discovered next.  

Bibliography

Barnes, D.M.  2010.  “Dental Modification: An Anthropological Perspective.”  University of Tennessee Honor Thesis.

Haour, A. and J.A. Pearson.  2005.  “An Instance of Dental Modification on a Human Skeleton from Niger, West Africa.”  Oxford Journal of Archaeology 24: 427-433.

Mayes, A.; A. Joyce; S. Barber; C. Morgan.  2015.  “Intra and Inter Regional Variation of Dental Modification and Social Complexity: A Test from the Lower Río Verde Valley, Oaxaca.”  Presented at The 80th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, San Francisco, California. 2015 ( tDAR id: 395458)

Mower, J. P.  1999.  “Deliberate Ante-mortem Dental Modification and Its Implications in Archaeology, Ethnography, and Anthropology.”  Papers from the Institute of Archaeology 10: 37-53.

Pacey, L.  2014.  “Viking Teeth Offer Insight into Cultural Status.”  British Dental Journal 216: 445.

Pritchard, B.  2011.  “Maya Cranial and Dental Modifications.”  Totem: The University of Western Ontario Journal of Anthropology 14: 57-77.

   

Roksandic, M.; K. Alarie; R.R. Suárez; E. Huebner; I. Roksandic.  2016.  “Not of African Descent: Dental Modification among Indigenous Caribbean People from Canímar Abajo, Cuba.”  PLOS One 11: 1-15.

Ullinger, J.  No Date.  “It’s the Tooth: Dental Remains & Archaeology.”  Asor Blog.  http://asorblog.org/2009/04/12/its-the-tooth-dental-remains-archaeology/

Wasterlain, S.N.; M.J. Neves; M.T. Ferreira.  2015.  “Dental Modifications in a Skeletal Sample of Enslaved Africans Found at Lagos (Portugal).”  International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 26: 621-632.