Tooth Ablation in Early Neolithic Skeletons from Taiwan

Abstract

This chapter documents tooth ablation in early Neolithic skeletons (ca. 5000–4200 BP) from the Nankuanli East (NKLE) site in southwestern Taiwan and makes comparisons to Iron Age skeletons (1800–500 BP) from Shihsanhang (SSH) in northwest Taiwan and other groups from Taiwan and surrounding regions. The most common pattern of tooth ablation in the NKLE skeletons is symmetrical removal of the upper lateral incisors and canines in adult males and females. No ablation was observed among the Iron Age skeletons from Taiwan. The manner and timing of tooth removal, a possible marker of cultural/kinship identity, and its absence in the SSH teeth are discussed. The pattern of tooth ablation observed in the NKLE skeletons is rare in other regions surveyed. Studies of skeletons from Mainland China help identify the possible origin of the pattern of dental modification observed in Taiwan’s earliest Neolithic inhabitants.

Tooth ablation in Iron Age central Thailand: Evidence from the archaeological sites of Ban Mai Chaimongkol and Tha Kae

“…Archaeological interpretations of the cultural significance of ablation are frequently grounded in ethnographic accounts of its practice that reflect global variation in meaning and motivation (e.g., Beyron, ; Campbell, ; Ellis, ; Singer, ). In addition to aesthetic rationales, where the practice is carried out for beautification purposes, or individual, idiosyncratic choices, ablation can be symbolically potent and convey social information (Pietrusewsky et al, ; Temple et al, ). Potential biological and cultural correlations between ablation and sex, age, social differentiation, and migration are considered here as possible social rationales for ablation practices observed at Ban Mai Chaimongkol and Tha Kae.…”

“…As a permanent and highly visible form of body modification, tooth ablation is recognized as an artifact of human behaviour that can convey significant cultural information (Alt & Pichler, ; Milner & Larsen, ; Mower, ). Although the underlying motivations for purposefully removing anterior teeth vary, ablation can reflect aspects of social identity including ethnicity, status, and kinship or may correspond with life cycle events, ritually marking social transitions associated with adulthood, matrimony, or death and mourning (Kusaka et al, ; Pietrusewsky & Douglas, ; Pietrusewsky, Lauer, Tsang, Li, & Douglas, ; Stojanowski, Carver, & Miller, ; Temple, ; Temple, Kusaka, & Sciulli, ). Contextualizing body modification practices such as tooth ablation can offer insights into the ways in which past peoples conceptualized and made tangible social differences experienced during life (Knudson & Stojanowski, ; Torres‐Rouff & Knudson, ; Velasco, ).…”

Ritual tooth ablation and the Austronesian expansion: Evidence from eastern Indonesia and the Pacific Islands

“…Tooth ablation (primarily of the maxillary lateral incisors and canines) has been found at a number of Neolithic sites across Taiwan (reviewed in Pietrusewsky et al 2013;Pietrusewsky et al2017). Ethnographic accounts detail the widespread occurrence of tooth ablation in Taiwan, suggesting that the practice survived into the modern period (Pietrusewsky et al 2017). The presence of ablation in Neolithic and later populations ftom Taiwan and the fact that tooth ablation was still practiced by Austronesian-speaking populations ftom Taiwan during the ethnographic present could signift that tooth ablation was an important arrd enduring aspect of Austronesian culture on the island.…”

Austronesian influence and Transeurasian ancestry in Japanese

“…Indications for an Austronesian connection to the Dawenkou culture come from various kinds of evidence: the use of pottery with supporting legs, house structure, myths on the sun, burial rituals such as the use of slab tombs (Zhang, 2009), cranial measurements (Wu and Olsen, 2009), and the shared ritual of Language Dynamics and Change 7 (2017) 210-251 tooth ablation, notably the extraction of healthy upper lateral incisors as a puberty rite (Han and Nakahasi, 1996: 47-48;Pietrusewsky et al, 2014). Moreover, it is more likely that Austronesian agriculture spread to Taiwan from Shandong than from the Lower Yangtze River, as previously suggested by Blust (1996) and Bellwood (2005), because millets and rice arrived as an integrated assemblage in Taiwan around 3000-2400bc, while Lower Yangtze agriculture focused exclusively on rice until 2000bc (Weber and Fuller, 2008: 80;Stevens and Fuller, 2017).…”