Posted on 09/13/2025 6:35:26 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Common within Maya culture was the practice of dental modification, which usually involved filing teeth into distinctive shapes, engraving designs, or drilling holes and embedding stones such as jade or pyrite. Scholars had previously thought that these procedures were only performed on adults, but Phys.org reports that a new study suggests for the first time that some children may have also participated in the ritual. The evidence came from three Maya teeth inlaid with jade stones that are in the collections of Francisco Marroquín University's Popol Vuh Museum. Researchers recently reexamined the teeth -- a maxillary central left incisor, a mandibular lateral left incisor, and a maxillary right canine -- and determined that they came from three different individuals aged between eight and 10. Unfortunately, since the loose teeth were donated to the museum and are unprovenanced, archaeologists don’t know for certain why the dental modification was carried out on only these three preadolescents. They prove, however, that this practice was part of local tradition in at least one region of the Maya world. To read about other Maya body modification practices, go to "."
(Excerpt) Read more at archaeology.org ...
[Phys.org] Maxillary right canine: A) Buccal optical view; B) Proximal radiographic view; C) CBCT sagittal section showing close proximity of the inlay cavity wall to the pulp chamber, with calcifications indicating pulp response.Credit: Marco Ramírez-Salomón et al
I can only imagine how painful that must have been.
Apparently they survived it, that made them stronger. 😜
Oooh, sign me up! 😉
It would be stela.
Or it was done to make a fancier sacrifice.
Bling was the ‘IN’ thing!................
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