The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1898-11-24
MEXICAN INDIAN DENTS try.
Teeth Cut Bear-Trap Fashion and Plugged
Liberally with Iron.
(From the Mexican Herald.)

tHTQL1 buC l0CAASe@iA AAS-ss-Nsy
Mr.. Leopoldo Batres, National Curator
of ANTIQUITIES, has made an interesting
present to his friend, DR.. Howe, the dem
list.
1t conists of some articles discovered in
one of the tombs of Militia. The articles
in question are portion OF SKULL
glass bead,ss little copper hell, just Ike
those which are at this day tied around
the necks of kittens, and an upper iei6
hicuspid tooth with circular lnorusta-
tion of pyrites in front, all from the same
S keleton.
aboriginal peoples of Mexico wore orna-
ments in their teeth. Lie. Alfredo Chav-
gro possessed a front tooth taken from q
tomb at Palenque, in the middle of which
a green stone is set. Sometimes the in
crustations were of gold, and the incrusta
tons of iron pyrites, when they were new
and the sulphur in them was fresh, un-
doubtedly shore like gold.
There Is reason to suppose that only the
eight front teeth were incrusted, at any
rate as rule, for second bicuspid given
by Mr. B tres TO DR.. Jose j. Rojo, the
young Mexican dentist in DIR. Howe 8
office anG also taken from the Militia toni b,
is without any such incrustation. On
the other hand, a canine, given by Mr.
sBatres to Mr.. Rojo, has the incrustation,
and also affords evidence that these orna-
ments were MAIDS during life and not
after death. The present condition of the
tooth shows that the inorustation had
reached the nerve cavity and destroyed
the life of the tooth. a process that argues
life in the subject, as decay of the teeth
does not occur after death, the microbes
or organisms which cause decay dying
with the individual
AS to the object and significance of
these incrustations, they ara 3 matter of
connect Ire. They may have been affected
by all who could afford them, or they may
have been distinctive mark of some
rank or caste. What is evident from the
specimen possessed by Dr. Rojo is that
they must have caused suffering to those
who used them, and. therefore, it is to be
inferred that the fashion or custom which
prescri bed them must have had @ strong
social or religious sanction.
Another custom revealed by the teeth
found in these prehistoric tombs is that
Of noScbing the teeth so as TO form dove
falling indentations. Each contiguous
pair of upper front teeth were nntched for
q certain distance upward and sideways,
SO as TO bear resem blanoe to battlements
turned upside down. The lower teeth
were alternately cut off and left of their
natural size, SO as to fit in with the notch
es abovs In other words, a lower tooth
situated below cavity above was left Of
It's natural size. and the adjoining tooth
was Gust off for some distance. or course
the upper Anu lower teeth thus tire ted
would not meet at once, but 1t Is fact
well known to dentists that il an upper
tooth Is cut off. the corresponding lower
tooth will gradually grow up to it, and
vice versa, if a lower tooth Is sawed on
the corresponding upper tooth will grow
down GO it Therefore, in course of time
the notched teeth Of these prehistoric In
dams fitted into one another exactly, and
must have given them a peculiarly firm
grip upon anything they got between
their teeth.
The fragment of skull which DIR. Howe
has. as well as the tooth, is colored red,
which must have resulted from their
being dipped in mercury. This was
mn turally post mortem operation.
The cavity in the tooth In which the
inerustation of iron pyrites is inserted tit
is loose now and easily comes out} Is per
yues good Instruments and skilful work
nansnip The instruments used were
IT tempered copper, the art OF producing
which has been lost.
The little bell taken from the tomb,
and which is also one of DR. Howes val
ued possessions, is green, of course, but
it is otherwise in perfect preservation.
and it tinkles just as audibly as it did
when deposited in the tomb, thousands oil
years ago, by race of people that has
persisted