Posted on 06/14/2006 12:15:14 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Researchers report Wednesday that they found a 4,500-year-old burial in Mexico that had the oldest known example of dental work in the Americas. The upper front teeth of the remains had been ground down so they could be mounted with animal teeth, possibly wolf or panther teeth, for ceremonial purposes, according to researchers led by Tricia Gabany-Guerrero of the University of Connecticut... The individual, aged 28 to 32, would not have been able to bite with his front teeth but appears to have been well fed nonetheless, Chatters said. The body indicated he didn't do hard work, perhaps having been an important person in society... "The teeth were filed down so much that their pulp cavities were exposed, leading to an infection," Gabany-Guerrero said in a statement... In addition to the teeth they found pieces of skull and bones from his hands, legs and feet. There was no indication of physical problems and he did not suffer from ailments such as arthritis. The cause of death was not clear but the researchers said there had been active infections in two teeth.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
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yo, dat ain't no gold teef, dat's a straight-up-bling-bling-grill-piece!!
Yea, it's a grill. You have to admit that America is a grea place when a 47 year old guy like Flava Flav can get rich doing just about nothing.
EEEEEEEEWwwwwww. And after they ground down his teeth they threw him in a well as a human sacrifice!
Can't we have *one* thread without a photo of Helen Thomas? Geez.
But at least he lived in a subsistence economy with diversity as its most important foundation stone.
this link may last longer, similar story.
UConn scientist helps push back history of dentistry
By Tom Breen, Journal Inquirer
06/14/2006
http://www.journalinquirer.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16787738&BRD=985&PAG=461&dept_id=161556&rfi=6
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