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The Vikings bare their filed teeth
Author(s) -
Arcini Caroline
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
american journal of physical anthropology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.146
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1096-8644
pISSN - 0002-9483
DOI - 10.1002/ajpa.20164
Subject(s) - crown (dentistry) , front (military) , archaeology , maxilla , dentistry , orthodontics , geography , medicine , meteorology
Finds of deliberate dental modification have for the first time been found in archaeological human skeletal material from Europe. The type of modification is a horizontally filed furrow on the frontal upper part of the tooth crown. The furrows are single or, more usually, multiple, and are found on the front teeth in the maxilla. The affected individuals are 24 men from the Viking Age (ca. 800–1050 AD), found in present day Sweden and Denmark. The marks are so well‐made that it is most likely they were filed by a person of great skill. The reason for, and importance of, the furrows are obscure. The affected individuals may have belonged to a certain occupational group (such as tradesmen), or the furrows could have been pure decoration. Am J Phys Anthropol., 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.