Stone Age humans extracted animal teeth with flames, blades, and fleshy stews

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In prehistoric communities across what is now northeastern Europe, decorative ornaments with animal teeth were a regular cultural practice. These decorative ornaments that have been dug up in gravesites of Stone Age hunter gatherers offer some insight into the daily lives of our ancestors.

How the people in these settlements best removed the teeth from animal skulls has been a mystery. To figure out the potential answer, a team of archaeologists tested seven different teeth extraction methods. The findings are detailed in a study published June 20 in the journal Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences and reveal the two most effective methods. It also demonstrates that daily survival, individuality, and symbolism were quite intertwined in ancient societies.

[ Related: Butchered skulls point to Europe’s Ice Age cannibals. ]

The study centers on the Zvejnieki cemetery site in northern Latvia. Dating back to about 7500 to 2500 BCE, more than 2,000 animal teeth have been excavated from the various graves. Earlier studies focused on the symbolic and decorative roles of these ornaments in burial rituals. Depending on the environment, the teeth of different carnivores and mammals, including bison, elk, reindeer, wild boar, wild horse, and even humans, have been used in these ornaments in northern Europe and beyond.

To determine how the people living here extracted the teeth, the team on this study used experimental archaeology to test seven different extraction methods:

Cutting– using blades can be used to cut teeth from the animal’s jaw bones
Percussion–crushing the jaw bones using cobbles and wooden tools to loosen the teeth
Scavenging/air-drying–leaving the jaw bone outdoors for an extended period of time to soften the bone and decompose the soft tissues to extract the teeth by hand
Soaking–soaking a jaw bone for several weeks to soften the bone and decompose the soft tissues so that the teeth can be extracted by hand
Direct heat/fire–exposing the jaw to direct heat from an open fire to dry out the bone and extract the teeth
Wet cooking–simmering the jaw in a ceramic pot to allow the tissues to detach and extract the teeth by hand
Pit steaming–placing the entire head in a cooking pit to detach the soft tissues

They found that wet cooking and pit steaming were the most effective techniques. Both allowed for high extraction rates, without damaging the teeth. Using wet cooking and pit steaming also ensured that the meat was edible and the bones could be used to make tools–ensuring that nothing on the animal was wasted.

“Our experiments show that tooth extraction was a deliberate, time-sensitive process embedded in daily life, especially cooking practices,” Aija Macāne, a study co-author and zooarchaeologist at the University of Helsinki in Finland, said in a statement. “This challenges the assumption that teeth used for ornaments were simply scavenged or easily available.”

The boiling experiment. A) A roe deer mandible was cooked in a replica ceramic vessel. B) The heat around the pot was gradually increased. C) After 10 hours of boiling, the teeth were successfully removed undamaged. CREDIT: Photos by A. Macāne, illustration by K. Nordqvist.

According to the team, these findings indicate that tooth extraction was not merely a functional task, but served an integral role in broader cultural practices. Extracting these animal teeth intertwined food prep, making personal items to wear, and burial and death rituals. The study also calls for a reevaluation of what archeologists call the chaîne opératoire—or the sequence of actions that are involved in artifact production. A reassessment looking particularly at both ornament making and human–animal relationships could yield more insight into these millennia-old practices

The team hopes that this work inspires further studies into the early stages of ornament production, including comparing prehistoric butchery practices and the extraction of both human and carnivore teeth.

“By better understanding the extraction process, we gain deeper insight into the life histories of tooth pendants—from animal capture and processing, to ornament crafting, use, and final deposition,” said Macāne.