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Semi-related: When I was in the canyons of New Mexico learning about various tribes and their lifestyles, I learned that many died from tooth-related infections
by yousifa 9y ago
Semi-related: When I was in the canyons of New Mexico learning about various tribes and their lifestyles, I learned that many died from tooth-related infections. This is because the mortars they used were made from softer stone that crumbled in the grinding process (when they grind maize). These tiny pieces of stone essentially ground down their teeth.
If I remember correctly, because of this their average lifespan was just over 30 yrs.
- everyone 9y agoMost people using stone grinding wheels throughout history has the same issue, from the beginning of farming up until a couple hundred years ago in Europe say. Archeologists use the amount of wear on a skeletons teeth to determine their age quite accurately.
- azernik 9y agoThis is also part of why white bread was historically considered healthier - removing the wheat germ and bran kind of faked the look of stone-grain-free bread.
- dredmorbius 9y agoWould you happen to have a reference on that?
- wahern 9y agoA quick Google Books search found, Tosefta Berachot: Translated Into English with a Commentary https://books.google.com/books?id=ronqNAPipaEC&pg=PA189
- wahern 9y agoAh, an even better reference, from 1906, which also mentions teeth. Lieut.-Colonel Allan Cunningham desired to contrast the highly scientific process of grinding in use at the present day in all civilised counties with the unscientific process of grinding on a very large scale amongst the huge population of North-West India, which was essentially a wheat-eating population. The wheat was ground there in hand stone mills; the grinding was coarse, and separation of the bran very imperfect, there being a good deal of bran in the so-called flour. The bread was unleavened bread, whereas the bread eaten in this country was leavened bread, which made in immense difference in its effect on the constitution. The native flour was simply kneaded with water, and quickly heated over a griddle. With the addition of a little milk, butter, and salt, that was the staple food of the population. The effect of the diet was that the population were inferior on the whole in physique to Europeans, but it must remembered that they did not have a varied diet. The people had extremely beautiful teeth which they carefully cleaned. One very curious effect, which was always ascribed to the eating of the native ground what, was that the natives were extraordinarily subject to stone, even little children frequently having bigs stones in the bladder. Journal of the Society of Arts, December 21, 1906. https://books.google.com/books?id=DfpFAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA127
- dredmorbius 9y agoThank you!
- Aron 9y agoMy ancestors threw off the archaelogists by only dining on the soft heated innards of dead animals. Their teeth were a pointed exercise in falsification.
- antman 9y agoThe same problem was with pharaohs. The stone tools that were used to make bread consisted mainly of sand which grinded ancient egyptians' teeth. National Geographic magazine had some x-rays that indicated that they were in pain.
- Sleeep 9y agoAverage lifespan isn't a particularly useful measurement for those who have survived infancy due to extremely high infant mortality rates in the past. Individual life expectancy changes each year of your life based on how many years you have already survived. (See: actuarial life tables)
- cdoxsey 9y agoJust a reminder that low life expectancy is largely the product of high infant mortality rates bringing down the average. If you were to survive to adulthood in the ancient world you would probably not die at 30, but something more like 60.
- EADGBE 9y agoSometimes I hate statistics.