Análisis radiográfico de mutilación dentaria en Tantoc

Abstract

The dental mutilation was a cultural practice in Mesoamerica, being accepted that it was used to re-enforce symbolic-social aspects that had to be manifested in an individual. In the human osteological collection from Tantoc, an archaeological site in San Luis Potosi State, this condition was identified in many individuals, being classified the pieces depending in pre-established criteria’s. The teeth in better shape were from a young woman, between 19 and 23 years old, they were studied at an odontological level to recognize the type of instrument used, time of the process, impact that they had in the history events of the tooth and the age at which the dental mutilation was used. Through the obtained measures inside the mutilated and no-mutilated tooth by radiological images and measurements of the dental calculus it was determined that the mutilation take almost a month, this was done two and a half years before her death, although it showed to be part of a strong traumatism, they were manipulated by individuals that knowledge their job.