Teeth filled 13,000 years ago in Italy
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- Published: Wednesday, 12 April 2017 07:45
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Researchers have discovered the world's most ancient dental fillings in northern Italy. The fillings were spotted inside a pair of 13,000-year-old front teeth and they were made of bitumen, a semi-solid form of petroleum. This is the earliest example of dentistry known to date. “It is quite unusual, not something you see in normal teeth,” said Stephano Benazzi an archaeologist at the University of Bologna.
The newly-discovered teeth, two upper central incisors appear to belong to the same person and were found at the Riparo Fredian site near Lucca in northern Italy. The results of the research were published in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology, and show that each tooth has a large hole in the incisor surface that extends down into the pulp chamber deep in the tooth. These holes have tiny horizontal marks that suggest they were drilled out and it appears that bitumen or bitumen was added to the cavity at the same time as the drilling. Researchers also found plant fibers and hair trapped in the bitumen, which may have been part of the filling material.
According to Benazzi, the fillings most likely served the same purpose they do today: to reduce pain and keep food out of the cavities. Archaeologists estimate the bitumen and plant matter filler was chosen for its antiseptic qualities; used to prevent infection. Claudio Tuniz, an archaeologist at the University of Wollongong in Australia, says that bitumen, as well as some medicinal plants, were possibly used as an antiseptic, just like beeswax was used in other examples of prehistoric dentistry thousands of years later.
According to Benazzi, during the Upper Paleolithic, when the owner of the newly found teeth was alive, Europe was experiencing immense cultural changes, as new people kept coming to the continent from the near East. He speculates that they probably brought with them new kinds of food as well, which led to more cavities, Ultimately, Benazzi stated that judging by the amount of wear, the owner of the teeth was not very young, even though he can’t make any solid conclusions with the only samples being two teeth.
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