The Calumet news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 1907-1938, 1914-07-08
Indians of Ecuador Practiced
Dentistry 1000 Years Ago

That the art of filling teeth with for
eign substances was known to vari-
Gus aboriginal tribes Of the Americas
hundreds Of years before the Column
bian era, perhaps even a thousand
years ago, is a fact that has been
known TO archaeologists for some
time. Among the leading anthropolo-
Sists of this country is DR.. Marshall H.
Saville. LOubat Professor of Amer-
can Archaeology in Columbia Univer-
sity. In his scientific Investigations i'm
the west coast provinces OF Ecuador
and Colombia he has made many yalu-
able discoveries. His first visit to this
region was made i'm the summer of
1906. In a communication to the In
ternational Congress of Americanists
held at Vienna in 1908, among other
interesting details was the following
account dealing with the subject of
decoration OF the teeth:
Another custom which we found in
Esmeraldas, and which. so far as we
are aware, Is not present in any other
ton OF the teeth by the insertion OF in
lays in small perforations cut in the
enamel of the upper incisors This
custom OF decorating the teeth was
quite common I'm various parts of
Mexico, where different settings were
used. In the Mayan area. as far south
as salvador the object most often used
for the inlay was jadite. In Mexico,
Tor example, in Oaxaca, ] have found
hematite used; in Vera Cruz, turquoise
has been found; and in other parts
teeth with settings of rock crystal, OBJ
sidian' and red cement have been
found We have never heard Of this
custom in Colombia or Peru. but in
Esmeraldas, in Atacames. skulls have
been found with tiny disks of gold set
into the teeth in the same manner as
In Mexico and Central America. with
the exception of the material"
In the June number of The Bulletin
of the Pan American Union, Washing
ton, ID. c., appears a review of Pro-
lessor Saville's latest publication.
Fre-Columbian Decoration OF the
Teeth in Ecuador" in which the re-
viewer states that the finding of teeth
maid with gold, turquoise, and other
substances, in the skulls and among
the sHeletal remains of aboriginees
who lived in various parts of the Am
eilcan continents prior to the Spanish
discoveries has been a matter of ne
culiar interest. whether this inser
ton OF foreign substances in the ena =
mel OF the teeth was always for mere
~ decorative purposes or whether at
times 1t may have been to serve q use
iui end has been a mooted question.
The general consensus OF opinion
among anthropologists is that orna-
mcntation was the sole object"
An Unusual Dental Feat.
Last summer Prof. Saville returned
from another archaeological trip to
south America with numerous yalu- |
aoIe specimens, among them being one
OF unusual interest. described by the
professor as follows:
In the spring of 1913, a Cholo. one |
or the natives Of Atacames, a town i'm |
tho province of Esmeraldas. about Is |
miles southwest of the city of Esmer- |
aldas, found "a skeleton in a burial tube |
on the right bank of the Rio Atacames. |
Just above the town. The skull was |
round, with the teeth inlaid with gold |
nut the Under contented himself with |
breaking off the superior maxillary.
throwing the rest OF the skull away.
When visited the town i'm June of the
present year for the purpose Of max
ing some excavations to supplement
my former work. | obtained the frag-
meht. The two upper middle teeth
are decorated by the insertion of thin
gold disks I'm cavities drilled or bored
In the enamel of the face of the teeth
An unusual dental feat, in addition to
'he decoration Is found in the right
middle tooth. This is not right mid
die incisor, but right lateral incisor
winch does not belong to the jaw. but
was implanted to replace the middle
lnclsor. This is such an extraordinary
feature that we must weigh very care
fully the evidence as To its having