Therapeutic Dentistry in Prehistoric Maryland—New Analyses from the Late Woodland Period Hughes (18MO1) Archeological Site.

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Late Woodland period human remains were recovered from the Hughes site (18MO1) in the Maryland Piedmont during the 1930’s. Among the remains are two mandibles and a maxillary right dental quadrant that contain carious teeth suspected of having undergone antemortem dental modification. Affected teeth representing two adult females and a child were analyzed utilizing radiography, scanning electron microscopy, and visible alternate light source macro-photography. These teeth show signs of both radial and concentric tool marks in both the enamel and dentin borders of carious lesions. It is proposed that these modifications provide evidence of the practice of therapeutic dentistry during the Late Woodland period in the Middle Atlantic region.

This presentation includes photographs of maxillae, mandibles and affected dentition representing individuals unaffiliated with known Native American regional populations. In good faith, an amended version of this paper was submitted to the Maryland Commission on Indian Affairs for comment, as these findings contribute to extant, albeit infrequent, documentation of dental pathological intervention in the Middle Atlantic, Late Woodland period. Non-academic venues for dissemination of findings include bioanthropology students and archaeological interest groups.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 41671.0