Seeing the ‘Invisible Humans’ of Archaeology Through the Gunk on Their Teeth
Ruth Schuster, Haaretz
Seeing the ‘Invisible Humans’ of Archaeology Through the Gunk on Their Teeth
Ruth Schuster, Haaretz
Ancient plaque analysis has been revealing dietary secrets and unexpected origins from the deepest prehistory. Now Dan David prizewinner Anita Radini takes the science to a new level: detecting ancient occupations.
You are what you eat, they say, and your teeth bear witness. In fact, analysis of dental enamel can tell not only what you ate but even where you grew up.
Now, thanks to groundbreaking work by Dr. Anita Radini of University College Dublin – one of the winners of the 2023 Dan David Prize for research into history – we may also be able to tell what ancient people did for a living based on particles trapped in their dental plaque. At least some of the people.
