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Bared teeth are a prominent and eye-catching feature on many historical and archaeological artifacts, and are commonly interpreted as representing death, aggression and the shamanic trance. But a study in the forthcoming issue of Current Anthropology argues that the bared-teeth motif often expresses something a bit less sinister: the smile. Alice V. M. Samson, Faculty of Archaeology at Leiden University, the Netherlands, and Bridget M. Waller, Department of Psychology, University of Portsmouth, examined the bared-teeth motif (BTM) of the Taíno, who lived in the Greater Antilles (the Caribbean) from AD 1000 to the early decades of European contact (1492-1550). Here...

Parents' fury after school's politically correct online newsletter covers up pupils' faces with 'cartoon smileys'Last updated at 15:49pm on 5th March 2008 Furious parents today attacked a "politically correct" primary school for covering pupils' faces on their website with "cartoon smileys" - to protect their identities.  Teachers took the bizarre decision after deciding mothers and fathers would not want their children being recognised on the internet. But parents described the decision as "PC gone mad" and demanded the "raver-style" faces be removed. Scroll down for more...Smiles all round: Cann Hall Primary deciced to cover pupils' faces online with 'smileys'  However,...