A combination of modern physics tools reveals the oldest dental filling, dating back to the Stone Age
Previous archaeological finds suggest that Neolithic humans could have practiced therapeutic dentistry. In 2006, Coppa and his group found several holes (probably made using a bow drill) in human molars from a 7500 to 9000-year-old graveyard in Pakistan, but there was no evidence of dental filling (Coppa et al., Early Neolithic tradition of dentistry, Nature 440, 775 (2006)).
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A minute amount (volume < 2 mm3) of the filling material was extracted from the canine, placed in a diamond anvil cell, and layered to allow an analysis in transmission in the mid-infrared spectral range (4000-500 cm-1) (Figure 2-e)). A set of standards, including modern natural beeswax, was run in a second step to fingerprint the unknown substance. Thanks to the high molecular sensitivity of the IR technique, the analysis revealed that the chemical markers (spectral features of wax ester compounds) of the tooth filling corresponded to beeswax, with some additional bands that reveal the presence of salts and oxidation processes, as expected after such ageing period. In conclusion, IR analysis clearly identified the unknown filling material as beeswax. |
This research was conducted by the research team of the 'Abdus Salam' International Center for Theoretical Physics, the University of Roma ‘La Sapienza’, Elettra - Sincrotrone Trieste, the University of Trieste, the 2ndUniversity of Napoli andthe Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization (ANSTO).
- Federico Bernardini, "Abdus Salam” International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste, Italy.
- ClaudioTuniz, “Abdus Salam” International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste, Italy and University of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia.
- Alfredo Coppa, Department of Environmental Biology, University ‘‘La Sapienza’’, Rome, Italy.
- Lucia Mancini, Diego Dreossi (micro-CT), Diane Eichert (FTIR), Elettra - Sincrotrone Trieste S.C.p.A., Basovizza, Italy.
- Gianluca Turco, Matteo Biasotto, Department of Medical Sciences, University of Trieste, Italy.
- Filippo Terrasi, CIRCE, INNOVA and Department of Environmental Sciences, 2nd University of Naples, Caserta, Italy.
- Nicola De Cesare,CIRCE, INNOVA and Department of Life Sciences, 2nd University of Naples, Caserta, Italy
- Quan Hua, Vladimir Levchenko, Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization Lucas Heights, New South Wales, Australia.