TOOTH ABLATION IN PREHISTORIC SOUTHEAST-ASIA

A sample of skeletons excavated from an undisturbed prehistoric (4000- 3500 years BP) burial site in Thailand included a high proportion of i ndividuals with anterior teeth missing in distinctive, mostly symmetri cal, patterns. The patterns, types and numbers of teeth missing have b een compared between males and females, with age at death, with depth of burial and among spatially distinct groups within the cemetery. The patterns of missing teeth changed over time. In early burials, latera l maxillary incisors were most commonly missing. Two-thirds of the adu lts had missing teeth. There were no significant differences between t he sexes or with age. In later burials, central maxillary incisors and mandibular incisors were most commonly missing. All adults and some c hildren as young as 11 years had missing teeth. There were no signific ant changes with age but females had more missing teeth than males. Lo ss as a result of extreme wear inflicted through the use of teeth as t ools, congenital absence and ritual ablation are discussed as explanat ions for the absence of the teeth. The evidence suggests that ritual a blation is the most likely explanation, although the loss of mandibula r incisors in some early burials may be as a result of industrial use of the teeth. The ablation of maxillary lateral incisors, found in the early burials, has been recorded at another prehistoric site in the w est of Thailand and at sites in southern China.