This 4000-year old skull is missing the two front incisors and has a projectile tip embedded in the jaw just below where they would be, but the two features aren’t related, according to a new study. (Photo credit: Canadian Light Source)
A 4000-year-old skull is missing its front two teeth on the bottom jaw and has a projectile point embedded in it, but a new study shows the two aren’t related.
Researchers used advanced bone imaging analysis techniques to show that the projectile tip was part of a larger arrowhead, the rest of which was buried with the body, but that the tooth anomaly was probably due to a genetic disorder that affects about one per cent of the population. This probably means that the projectile was involved in the man’s death, rather than the result of an earlier incident.
Original research paper published in the International Journal of Paleopathology on May 20, 2014.
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