Table Of ContentThe Etruscans and the History of
Dentistry
“This study is vitally important for our knowledge of the history of dentistry,
especially for the Etruscan period. It is extensively researched and combines the
subjects of biological anthropology, medical history and material cultural studies
to provide a rounded approach to the history of dentistry. This book is a valuable
contribution to scholarship on ancient perceptions of dental health and concep-
tions of beauty and is highly recommended for anyone interested in the medical
humanities.”
Dr. Patty Baker, University of Kent, UK
The Etruscans and the History of Dentistry offers a study of the construction and
use of gold dental appliances in ancient Etruscan culture, and their place within the
framework of a general history of dentistry, with special emphasis on appliances,
from Bronze Age Mesopotamia and Egypt to modern Europe and the Ameri-
cas. Included are many of the ancient literary sources that refer to dentistry—or
the lack thereof—in Greece and Rome, as well as the archaeological evidence of
ancient dental health. The book challenges many past works in exposing modern
scholars’ fallacies about ancient dentistry, while presenting the incontrovertible
evidence of the Etruscans’ seemingly modern attitudes to cosmetic dentistry.
Marshall Joseph Becker is Emeritus Professor of Anthropology at West Chester
University, USA, and is a Distinguished Member of the American Anthropological
Association.
Jean MacIntosh Turfa is Lecturer in Classical Studies at the University of
Pennsylvania, USA, where she is also a Consulting Scholar in the Mediterranean
Section of the University Museum.
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The Etruscans and the History
of Dentistry
The Golden Smile through the Ages
Marshall Joseph Becker and Jean
MacIntosh Turfa
First published 2017
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
2017 Marshall Joseph Becker and Jean MacIntosh Turfa
The right of Marshall Joseph Becker and Jean MacIntosh Turfa to be
identified as authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance
with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Becker, Marshall Joseph, author. | Turfa, Jean MacIntosh,
1947– author.
Title: The Etruscans and the history of dentistry: the golden smile through
the ages/by Marshall Joseph Becker and Jean MacIntosh Turfa.
Other titles: Routledge monographs in classical studies.
Description: Abingdon, Oxon; New York, NY: Routledge, 2017. |
Series: Routledge monographs in classical studies | Includes bibliographical
references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016031094| ISBN 9781138677913 (hardback: alk.
paper) | ISBN 9781315559254 (ebook)
Subjects: | MESH: Dental Prosthesis—history | Gold Alloys—history |
Esthetics, Dental—history | Prosthesis Design—history | History, Ancient
| Western World—history | Italy
Classification: LCC RK651 | NLM WU 11 GI8 | DDC 617.6/9—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016031094
ISBN: 978-1-138-67791-3 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-55925-4 (ebk)
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Swales & Willis Ltd, Exeter, Devon, UK
In memory of our parents,
and of
Tamara Launags, DDS,
and Arthur R. Marsilio, DDS
Contents
List of illustrations ix
Preface xv
Acknowledgments xviii
Background: the main ancient cultures associated
with dental appliances listed in alphabetic order xxiii
Introduction 1
1 Dentistry in medical history: classical roots 13
2 Evidence from the ancient Near East:
correcting misconceptions 72
3 The dental prosthesis: a lost Etruscan invention 83
4 Dental appliances and dentistry after the
Etruscans, to the present day 143
5 Catalogue of Etruscan and Roman-era dental appliances 156
6 Concluding remarks 302
Appendix I: Uncertain examples of Etruscan dental appliances 305
Appendix II: Modern copies of Etruscan dental appliances 312
Appendix III: Spurious examples of dental implants
or appliances 321
Appendix IV: Amulets and votives resembling or
incorporating teeth 333
Appendix V: Pliny on cures for oral pathologies 340
viii Contents
Appendix VI: Evidence for dental extractions in ancient Rome:
a summary of the analysis of teeth excavated at
the Temple of Castor and Pollux in the Roman Forum 346
Appendix VII: Report on analysis of gold bands in
Liverpool appliances (nos. 13 and 14) 352
Bibliography 357
Index 411
Illustrations
Figures
I.1 Women’s public presence in Etruria: banquet scene with
aristocratic women reclining beside their husbands. Tarquinia,
Tomb of the Leopards, fresco on back wall, c.480–470 bce 1
1.1 A selection of the extracted teeth found in the drain at the
taverna (shop) in the Roman Forum (c.50–110 ce), as in
Archaeology 42: 35 20
1.2 Root fractures on extracted teeth found in the Roman
Forum (c.50–110 ce): (a) fracture resulting from forced
extraction, without preliminary loosening; (b) post-extraction
fracture, resulting from trampling 21
1.3a–c Images, possibly depicting dental pliers, carved in Roman stone
funerary monuments: (a) tombstone of a dentist (?) incised with
image of forceps for “. . . inus” the damaged inscription probably
named “Victorinus” or “Celerinus,” Cyriaca Cemetery on the via
Tiburtina; (b) tomb epitaph of “Alexander,” depicting forceps
and tooth, Cemetery of Calepodius, Rome; (c) funerary relief,
uninscribed, possibly of a surgeon, with dental forceps,
among other surgical tools, Rome, Catacombs of Praetextatus 31
1.4a–c Tooth ligation as recommended by Abu al-Qasim (Albucasis):
(a) as it appears in the Latin translation by Gerhard of Cremona
(from Hoffmann-Axthelm 1970: fig. 6, from a copy in the City
Library of Bamberg); (b) the ligation as interpreted by Becker;
(c) as it appears in the Latin manuscript in the Laurentian
library in Florence (after Hoffmann-Axthelm 1970: fig. 7,
Flor. Laurent.) 55
1.5 Examples of false teeth as indicated by Paré (1564: 218; after
Hoffmann-Axthelm 1970: fig. 8). Paré illustrates five examples
that are all alike, except for the number of teeth held in a base,
with the citation “Dentz artificielles faittes d’os, qui s’attachent
par vn fil d’argent en lieu des autres quón aura perdues” 60
