Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1904-05-20
DENTISTRY AMONG INDIANS
billings Found in the Teeth of Skulls
Of Red Men of Pre-Coluu-
bian Times


indians used to do it before the diseov-
ny of America by Columbus is proved
~ many specimens in the museum of
| natural history, says the New York
FINES. It is certain from the. nature of
he filings that they were not put in on
| ccount of any defect in the teeth, but
,n1y because the Indian maidens OF
hexico and Central America thought
lental jewel decoration added to their
harms and perhaps increased their
:hances with desirable young SWANS Of
noble blood
| A thorough study Of this strange Gus
ON has been carried on by Prof NJ. H.
saville, one of the scientists connected
With the museum and he is to publish
| he result of his labors- 1t is to be called
| 'Pre-Columbian American Dentistry"
| Prof. Saville, himself collected most OF
| he specimens in the museum and has
| made examination Of many others in
| order to collect material for his essay
| that will appear in the bulletin issued by
| he museum
| There is one tooth in the collection
| hat illustrates with great clearness the
extent to which the Indians would go in
| the ornamentation of their teeth, and
| lso shows the skill with which they
we're able to put in stones. This tooth.
| aas right in the middle of its face
| ound piece of jadeite, q material that
was much used for decoration in past
| ages. The stone is bluish-green in color,
| md is imbedded into the ivory Of the
| Doth in such way that one might i'm
Agine 1t done by the most skillful of
twentieth century dentists.
Knowing the different sections of
America in which the jewel-flled teeth
we're found, the students of the subject
nave been able to settle with almost
positive certainty the bounds within
which the filing was done, and also the
erritory whose inhabitants. could not
put jewels in the teeth, but knew how
only to file them into all sorts of edd
and grotesque shapes. For instance, the
pre-COlumbian Indians living in the
southwestern part Of what is now tn
United States and those in the northern
half OF Mexico had to fine point the
art of filing, but they did not set the
teeth with precious stones. But the In
dams living below the center OF Mex
leo down as far as Honduras could i'm
bed the jewels in the teeth in such way
that they never came out, as is proved
by the fact that they are still firmly
here to the present day.
Now; with our modern dentists, who
are equipped with their up-tp-date ma
chimes and other instruments of torture,
we must go and see one of them every
few years if we want our teeth to stay
in perfect order-rather, that's what
the dentist tells us. But the prehistoric
Indians put in filings that were evil
1ently intended to stay forever-ano
have come pretty near doing It..
All sorts OF minerals were used for
ornamental filings. There were jade
tie for those who, wanted BLUSH green
turQuoises for lovers of blue, rock crys-
tal, for those who worshiped white as
emblematic of purity, coal black OBJ
silian for the Central American Hia-
Wathas who wanted to make the white
ness of their teeth show off by con-
trast, cement for the ones who desired
it and sometimes gold There is only
one specimen on record. however, with
4 gold filling. More precious minerals
were preferred. There Is no, indication
that any of this filling with stones
was done for any other purpose than
0rnamentation. OF course, now that
the possessors OF the art have been
dead for several hundred years, it is
not possible to inquire into their mo-
tives. But the appearance of all the
jeweled teeth now on exhibit seem To
show clearly enough that the custom
has for its explanation only the desire
Of personal decoration
How it was done Is equally a matter
of mystery. Old records furnish lit
tie information about this-enough on
which to base a very plausible theory.
1t seems that the Indian squaw, with
some sort of hard stone, drilled the
cavity into her daughters tooth. Sand
was used in some way. too. The way
they could make the Jewels stay in SO
firmly and for so many ages-that is |
what nobody knows. They are there. |
however, and look as If they will still
be there when the present inhabitants |
of this country become prehistoric"
To return from the prehistoric to the |
present, there was brought into the |
museum two or three days ago the |
largest and most interesting piece o; |
spheroidal granite yet found on the |
American continent. Heretofore the /
large boulders of this substance have |
been common only in foreign lands |
The specimen in the possession of the |
museum now was found by Horatio P /
Parme1ee in the vicinity of Charlevoix |
Mich. and near the shore of Lake /
Michigan When 1t arrived at its fu- /
ture New York resting place 1t immedi- /
ately became the center Of an admirins /
group of men of science in the mu-
scum; they crowded around 1t and ut
tered ordinations of delight that such
a rare stone had come into their midst |
Though perhaps not SO eppreciatiye /