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Iceman Had Bad Teeth
sciencehabit writes "Europe's best-known mummy wasn't just a medical mess; he also had terrible teeth, according to a new study. Ötzi, a Stone Age man who died atop a glacier about 5300 years ago, suffered from severe gum disease and cavities. When Ötzi was discovered atop a glacier on the Austro-Italian border, his frozen corpse was intensively studied. But no one took a close look at his teeth until now. Using 3D computer tomography (a CAT scan), the hunter's mouth could be examined for clues as to the life he led. A fall or other accident killed one of his front teeth, still discolored millennia later. And he may have had a small stone, gone unnoticed in his whole-grain bread or gruel, to thank for a broken molar. That gruel may be the culprit behind Ötzi's cavities and gum disease, too. The uptick in starches, the researchers suggest, could explain the increasing frequency of cavities in teeth from the time—a problem that's been with us ever since."
I mean, I'm not the biggest Val Kilmer fan around, but c'mon, that's just downright insulting!
I wish I had a kryptonite cross, because then you could keep Dracula and Superman away.
An American Ice Man would have had braces as a cave child.
How did this guy get all the way from the UK to the Austro-Italian border? And he didn't have to bring his own gruel, when he could,ve had a nice Austro-Italian sausage and maybe some goulash, with some fine wine to wash it down. The Europeans really were a bunch of savages. I mean, look at them, still at war with each other... and the world...
TFA mentions that he ate gruel and grains and that was probably to blame for his poor dental health. They're also blaming mechanical damage from tool holding and chewing sand with his gruel. I find it pretty unlikely that he would eat sandy gruel, they were prehistoric, not stupid. If they were stupid, we wouldn't have gotten the chance to be as stupid as we are as a race.
Sandy gruel just means "stone ground".
ONE comment, and you've already beaten me to the Val Kilmer joke...
Considering this is Slashdot, I'd have expected the obligatory joke "Iceman" reference to have been Spiderman and his Amazing Friends, not bloody Top Gun. I can't believe that I'm the first. Hand in your geek cards at once... >:-(
Anyway.... "Iceman had bad teeth? That's nothing, Firestar had BO and the other guy, er... could do what a spider can. Hang on, that last one's quite cool."
*ahem*
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When I lived in the US, I repeatedly heard the same comment : "You Europeans, you are total perverts and therefore hot - but you all have bad teeth". Didn't know it already started then. Is it a coincidence I live in Austria ?
Religous speak to God. Insane are spoken to by God. When all shut up, one can finally hear Shostakovich in peace
He was found 22 years ago. It took that long to examine his teeth?
He was afraid of dentists. It's quite a primeval phobia, you know.
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!