Many of us have likely sat in the dentist’s chair under local or general anesthesia to have a tooth extracted, but even with modern medicine, it’s not a pleasant experience. So consider the people who have been voluntarily hammering and pulling out healthy front teeth for thousands of years. This practice lasted from 4,800 BC until the early 1900s. And it was mostly in the name of beauty.
Fossils discovered at 40 sites in modern-day Taiwan shed new light on the island’s tooth-cutting rituals, with well-preserved male and female skulls showing consistent signs of missing teeth. A pattern is shown. Researchers from the Department of Archeology and Natural History at the Australian National University and the University of Guam are using their own discoveries as well as the historical record to uncover why and how this has been done for nearly 5,000 years. , revealed a more complete story.
“The first and most frequently mentioned motivation was beautification, arising from the desire to distinguish oneself from the facial features of animals and to increase an individual’s attractiveness, especially to the opposite sex,” the researchers wrote in their paper. It arose out of desire.” “Interesting testimony highlighted the tracking of the sight of a red tongue peeking out between glowing teeth.”
Patterns of extraction appear to vary from community to community across the island, but typically involve the removal of several upper front teeth, most commonly the incisors (I) and/or canines (C). I did.
“Among individuals with good oral health, the symmetry and regularity of the removed teeth is high, indicating that the result is intentional removal rather than caused by alveolar pathology or a traumatic accident.” ,” the researchers observed.
A team led by archaeologist Yue Zhang was able to categorize their findings into four different cultural motivations behind the painful procedure. As mentioned above, the most widespread reasons throughout the community were aesthetics, to distinguish humans from animals such as dogs, monkeys, and pigs, and because regular dentition was considered unattractive. did. And interestingly, because they were impressed by the arrangement of teeth found in mice.
Secondly, four groups indicated that it was for practical reasons, to allow better pronunciation in speech and reduce the possibility of “overcrowding” (hyperdontia). (I had four premolars extracted for this reason, but thankfully anesthetics had been invented by then.)
The third reason the research team discovered was that monuments, or what researchers call “tests of courage,” were meant to visibly demonstrate “courage” to young members of society.
“Local people believed that removing the teeth would reduce the pain caused by tattoos and alleviate difficulties with pronunciation,” the authors added. “In many cases, visible results were considered evidence of courage.”
Finally, this ritual was performed to mark the attainment of adulthood by young members of the tribe, or as a signal to distinguish people within society.
“The resulting dental patterns may alter interpersonal expression and communication, and may indicate that the individual has acquired new attributes of self-identity and group membership,” the researchers added. Ta. “This practice can therefore be understood as part of a community’s repertoire of defining cultural characteristics.”
And how was the tooth extracted? Well, as expected, it’s pretty brutal. Northern tribes used the percussion method, while southern tribes preferred the thread-pulling technique.
“Five groups living in northern Taiwan (Atayal, Saishat, Sediq, Tao, and Turku) usually place one end of the mediator on the surface of the tooth and the other end with a striker to facilitate tooth extraction. “He was hitting her,” the paper said. The researchers explained. “The materials used as meditators and attackers varied, including metal, stone, and wood.
“The four southern groups (Bunun, Hlaalua, Kanakanabu, and Tso) used one (or two) wooden or bamboo sticks with threads attached to one or both ends,” they said. continued. “The Southern-related procedure involved tying the teeth together tightly with thread and applying force to a rod attached to the thread until the teeth came loose.”
The cavity is then filled with the ashes of plants such as the sedge Miscanthus floridulus, which helps stop bleeding and prevent inflammation. Historical records show that most of the “rituals” of removing teeth were also performed in winter to minimize the risk of infection.
“The extracted teeth were then buried in locations such as in front of millet barns, under beds, and on top of thatched roofs,” the authors said.
This research fills a number of gaps in our understanding of this long-standing tradition in Taiwan, which began in the Neolithic period around 4800 BC and continued into the Iron Age, but disappeared by the early 1900s. It’s not a joke. As customs began to change, so did gender, and the last known tooth removals were performed primarily on women.
“In the 1910s, local traditions, including tooth cutting, were eradicated as a result of the armed repression carried out by ruling organizations to subdue indigenous peoples,” the researchers added.
This ancient ritual appears to have first become popular in Taiwan at the same time as pottery and crop cultivation, suggesting that it may have been a practice imported by migration from southern China. I am.
“Overall, the southern coastal region of China is a strong candidate as a source of pottery traditions, rice and millet cultivation, and other diagnostic markers of early Neolithic groups that migrated to Taiwan,” the researchers said. added, noting that further research is being conducted. It was necessary to determine the origin of tooth removal in Southeast Asia. “So far, the most likely origin seems to be from the middle reaches of the Yangtze River to the Guangdong-Fujian coast.”
The study was published in the Journal of Asian Archeology.
Source: Australian National University (via Phys.org)
