The Bling of the Ancients

If you think hip-hop stars like Flavor Flav started the craze of jewel-studded teeth, you'd be wrong. A new study shows that Native Americans were using sophisticated dentistry techniques to add bling to their smiles 2,500 years ago. These ancient people used notches, grooves, and semiprecious gems to beautify their teeth. According to the study, the dentistry was for purely cosmetic purposes. "They were not marks of social class," says José Concepción Jiménez, an anthropologist at Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History.

Re:"They were not marks of social class"

[timeOday]

It seem far more likely the anthropologist's understanding of the social class structure is seriously flawed.

Or it could be you. "Social class" means with wealth and power. How you can tell after 2500 years is because burial rituals are closely associated with wealth and power, people are buried in different places and with different objects or clothing depending on how wealthy they were or weren't. The Pharaohs are an extreme example.

As for ornamentation being a certain indication of social status, look at people today getting body piercings. Sure, it has a perceived social benefit, of making you more desirable - but primarily to others in the same class, or perhaps slightly above. But they are negatively associated with a high position in society. And, yes, there are exceptions to everything. But if you took the top 10% of Americans, measured by net worth, they would have less than 10% of the body piercings.

If you don't accept that example, consider drug and gang tatoos. Yes, they elevate somebody in their social group, but no, that does not equate to status in society as a whole.

Re:No Freezing

[sumdumass]

We still don't know if the jewels were ever inside the teeth while they were alive. It may have been part of some burial ritual for wealthy people or some way to make people interested in seeing the dead off.

there are a lot of assumptions going on here. That's the problem with interpreting the past, you need to create a story for the finding rather then look for stories to find evidence to support.

Re:Cosmetics

[Anonymous Coward]

Methinks you're used to the modern age too much, and even a bit naive about that. Social class has rarely been mutable thing; even in those rare ages when it has been mutable, there's usually been a stigma attached to being out of your "natural" class. Old books are filled with tales of people who have money but lack social standing. Modern America has some of the least-formed class structures, but money and profession have taken up much of the role of stratifying people. Even so, there are still remnants of old class structures - e.g., people who discriminate between "new money" and "old money".

Re:Cosmetics

[CarpetShark]

Actually I just listened to people talking on the radio the other day about how modern western culture has much less social mobility than in the past. People are more and more isolated these days, and much more commoditised, with rising populations, formulaic CVs as a test of skills, etc. So it stands to reason that it's HARDER to prove your worth and make your mark, not easier.

Re:Cosmetics

[Anonymous Coward]

Lol, you heard "some people on the radio" and demand hard data from others. You fucking need a +10 funny mod and -20 fucking stupid mod.