Smiling Vinkings

..
With thanks to David Meadows' Explorator 8.37:

_ What a Viking's smile revealed_
   From issue 2533 of New Scientist magazine, 07
   January 2006, page 14

   VIKING warriors may have filed deep grooves into
   their teeth to indicate class or military rank.

   Caroline Arcini of Sweden's National Heritage Board
   analysed 557 skeletons from four major Viking-age
   Swedish cemeteries and discovered that around 10
   per cent of men, but none of the women, bore
   horizontal grooves across the upper front teeth.

   The marks, which were cut deep into the enamel,
   are often found in pairs or triplets and appear
   precisely made. They might have marked certain
   men as members of a group of tradesmen or
   warriors, or signified their ability to withstand pain,
   says Arcini, who published her findings in the
   American Journal of Physical Anthropology (DOI:
   10.1002/ajpa.20164). Most of the men bearing the
   grooves were young, but in the absence of any
   distinctive injuries or artefacts buried with the
   skeletons, the exact reason for the marks remains
   a mystery.

   This is the first known case of tooth filing in Europe,
   but it was common practice in the Americas
   between AD 800 and 1050. Since the skeletons
   date from around the same time, this raises the
   possibility that the Vikings picked up the practice
   during their travels. Arcini hopes future finds will
   reveal where the practice arose and how it spread.

http://www.newscientist.com/channel/being-human/mg18925335.100
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Relevant Pages

  • Re: Smiling Vinkings
    ... VIKING warriors may have filed deep grooves into ... horizontal grooves across the upper front teeth. ...
    (sci.archaeology)
  • Re: Smiling Vinkings
    ... VIKING warriors may have filed deep grooves into ... horizontal grooves across the upper front teeth. ...
    (sci.archaeology)
  • Re: Smiling Vinkings
    ... VIKING warriors may have filed deep grooves into ... horizontal grooves across the upper front teeth. ...
    (sci.archaeology)
  • Re: Smiling Vinkings
    ... >> VIKING warriors may have filed deep grooves into ... >> Swedish cemeteries and discovered that around 10 ... >> horizontal grooves across the upper front teeth. ...
    (sci.archaeology)
  • Re: Smiling Vinkings
    ... VIKING warriors may have filed deep grooves into ... Swedish cemeteries and discovered that around 10 ... horizontal grooves across the upper front teeth. ...
    (sci.archaeology)