Photo: (left to right) Rosie Warltier BDA Museum Volunteer, Rachel Bairsto BDA Museum Head, Roland Hopwood, Helen Nield BDA Library Head and Lindsay Society President, and Brian Williams, volunteer and Lindsay Society Secretary.
What recovered teeth from archaeological digs can tell us about the past
Insights we gain from DNA and extraordinary early dentures.
The thirtieth Lilian Lindsay lecture took place on 1 May, with a lecture by Senior Human Osteologist from the Museum of London Archaeology, Don Walker, on the fascinating finds from recent digs at the HS2 and Crossrail construction sites.
Helen Nield said “Lilian Lindsay would have loved this talk. She was an avid fan of archaeology and is even listed as a volunteer on a dig at the Coldrum Long Barrow in 1910. We are thrilled Don Walker is sharing his findings at our memorial lecture.”
Don highlighted the finds from the two sites that will be of great interest to dentists. The recovered human remains includes around 35,000 deciduous teeth and around 327,000 permanent teeth, many of which are still to be studied and analysed.
Don explained that teeth are useful to archaeologists in working out the age of remains, but this is easier in children than adults, whose teeth are often worn down, and more difficult to date.
He gave examples of finds, including teeth with dental calculus, dentures - some with Waterloo teeth, and teeth with gold and tar fillings, the tar is a very rare example. One gold denture even has the date, 1880, incised on it.
DNA from teeth samples can be used to sequence and discover what diseases people died of, and calculus can be examined to discover where they were brought up, migration patterns, the food they ate and the environment they lived in. All of this helps to tell us their stories and bring the past to life.
Find out more
Find out more about the Lindsay Society. The team will also be at the British Dental Conference and Dentistry Show in Birmingham, 16-17 May, visit them on stand N62.
