Register here - as a registered user you get more features and fewer ads.
Submitted by coldrum --
The latest anthropological studies on the people of Iran’s 5200-year-old Burnt City determined that they used their teeth as an extra hand. The studies were carried out on 52 skeletons discovered by a joint Italian-Iranian archaeological team at the cemetery of the city during the 12th season of excavation that concluded last week.
“Using teeth to assist in creating artwork was very common among the people of the Burnt City,” anthropologist of the team Farzad Foruzanfar told the Persian service of CHN on Tuesday. The people used their teeth in weaving wicker, nets and textiles, and in creating artwork with ornamental stones, he said, adding, “Teeth were the extra hand of people in these professions.”
Abrasions caused by pulling fibers of the palmetto plant by teeth and seen in both genders, further support the conclusions. Various shapes of abrasions in teeth are visible including surface, bias, grooves, holes, and as a result of friction. Consequently, anthropologists believe that people used their teeth in many ordinary jobs.
“People pulled fibers with their teeth and also moisturized them with saliva for weaving wickerworks, which have previously been discovered in the Burnt City,” Foruzanfar said.
For more, see the Tehran Times.
Something is not right. This message is just to keep things from messing up down the road