On Tuesday, April 29 at 3:30 pm in Hibben 105, Dr. Vera Tiesler will present her talk Ancient Maya Teeth. Dental Modification, Social Identity, and Religion as part of the Anthropology Colloquia Series.

Abstract

A unique form of human self-constitution, most Classic Lowland Maya had their front teeth modified permanently during life. The pan-regional skeletal record communicates that before the so-called Maya collapse, youngsters and adults displayed sophisticated tooth polishes and artificial dental contours, tooth engravings and/or colorful inlays. Entrenched like gateways in the mouths of their human carriers, such enhanced dental arcades filtered the flux of breath and sound and in the living would animate and filter respiration, speech and chant. Building on the momentum of ongoing research on Maya physical embodiment, Dr. Tiesler will share in this talk new findings and thoughts on the crafting, the daily experience, and the looks of permanent dental modifications in this area. Further explorations target the presumed functions and meanings of the incrusted materials and their colorful hues. Once installed in the mouths of their grown-up Maya carriers, such beautified teeth were apt to project self-acclaimed identities. Most patterns appear convergent with community building and long-standing religious motifs, others seem ostentatious or plainly extravagant. A number of afterthoughts relate to the loss of diversity in Mesoamerican dental crafting past the Maya collapse and discuss syncretism in the dental embellishment seen in modern Maya communities.

Dr. Vera Tiesler is a bioarchaeologist, and a full research professor in the department of Anthroprological Sciences at the Autonomous University of Yucatán in Mexico. Coming from an anthropological, archaeological and medical academic background, her academic interests lie in illuminating the human condition of the ancient Maya and of Mesoamerica in general. In her research, she usually examines bioarchaeological information together with other material and discursive media to understand ancient living conditions and life styles, physical appearance and body enhancement, ritual violence, and veneration. During the past 25 years she has been teaching and conducting research at the Autonomous University of Yucatan, Mérida, Mexico, where she is coordinating the Laboratory of Bioarchaeology. Recent book publications include Social Skins of the Head. Body Beliefs and Ritual in Ancient Mesoamerica and the Andes(Tiesler & Lozada, eds. 2018; UNM), The Routledge Handbook of Mesoamerican Bioarchaeology (ed. 2022; DO), and Ancient Maya Teeth. Dental Modification, Social Identity, and Religion (Tiesler, 2024, UTP). Her current CONACYT research grant focuses on Maya sensorial experiences.