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Hello Phoenixone, and Welcome to Wikipedia!

Please remember to sign your name on talk pages by clicking or using four tildes (~~~~); this will automatically produce your username and the date. Also, please do your best to always fill in the edit summary field. Below are some useful links to facilitate your involvement.

Happy editing! cjllw ʘ TALK 07:35, 10 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

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WP:MESO

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Hi Phoenixone, the above is just a standard welcome-to-wiki template containing links to general info & wikipedia editing guides that you may find useful. And welcome also to WikiProject Mesoamerica (WP:MESO), I see you're one of Prof. Hoopes' KU anthro students. As well as whatever instructions and guides you may have been given for your course & activities here, pls feel welcome to ask questions of, or make any comments to, those of us in WP:MESO and we'll do our best to help out. Either at the WP:MESO discussion board, one of our user talkpages, or at the talk page of the relevant article. All the best, and cheers --cjllw ʘ TALK 07:35, 10 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You can use space on this talk page to create or post a draft of a new entry on which you're working. If you would like for me to give you comments on an existing entry, please add a pointer to it on this page. Happy editing! Hoopes (talk) 17:05, 17 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Photo rights

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Hi there phoenixone. Re your query on photo rights, ie how to go about uploading an image whose copyright is owned by someone else (I presume in this case Justin Kerr), who has given you permission for it to be used on wikipedia.

Generally wikipedia requires some sort of 'audit trail' that documents the image's copyright holder has in fact given their explicit permission for the img to be uploaded to wiki under an appropriate free license (and the license extends not only to its use on wikipedia, but also to derivative works and sites that can legally be made under the terms of the GNU free document licence that all wikipedia's material is licensed under).

The best way is to follow the procedures outlined at this link: WP:COPYREQ, in particular obtaining the permission from the source in the format described by the WP:CONSENT subsection. When you have that email permission forward it on to the permissions helpdesk at the email address given at that page. You should then be able to upload the img (if it's a free license then I would suggest uploading it at Wikimedia Commons, not on english wikipedia itself- if the image is stored at commons then it can be made available to all other language editions of wiki, as well.) If you do upload it to commons, then also follow the procedures at its OTRS page, which describes somewhere the interim permissions template you can put with the image which marks it as "awaiting confirmation by OTRS" (ie, the people who monitor the wikimedia permissions email address), so people will know that the permission has been sent and is just awaiting one of the OTRS folks to assign it a ticket number as 'proof' that permission is on file.

Sorry if I've made it sound more complex than it is in practice; by just reading through the copyreq page(s) hopefully it should all be clear. It may be a little bureaucratic but it's designed to avoid potential for copyright violation concerns, that's all. If you have any more issues, pls feel free to ask the specifics & we'll do our best to get it moved along. Cheers, --cjllw ʘ TALK 08:20, 7 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Work In Progress

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Dental Modificatin Among the Maya

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Maya Burial Urn. Photograph copyright Justin Kerr, K6401. [1]

‘’’Dental modification’’’ describes the intentional change in the appearance of the teeth (not created accidently from tool use) by the Maya, for aesthetic and symbolic purposes. Often it was done in conjunction with cranial deformation. This practice has been depicted in Maya art, as shown in this Quiche (K'iche') burial urn. The figure displayed in this urn exhibits modification to the maxillary central incisors in the form of filing.

Types of Dental Modification

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There are three types of dental modification used by the Maya: filing, inlays of various substances, and a combination of filing and inlays [1]. Evidence shows that filing of the teeth took place from Mexico to South America, however the practice of creating inlays was restricted to Mesoamerica and Ecuador [2]. One researcher also includes the practice of painting or staining the teeth, but I found no mention of this in other works [3]. However, this method would probably not leave evidence in the archaeological record.

Techniques and Materials Used

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Filing

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Filing consists of making grooves or indentations on the teeth. These can be created on the occlusal (or bite) surface of the teeth or the labial surface (that which is in contact with the lips) [4]. An example of filing done on the occlusal surface of the teeth can be seen in this photograph of a Maya skull in situ. (I am awaiting permission from the Peabody Museum for the use of one of their photos.) Filing was performed by using a stone or bone implement, along with water and sand, to abrade the teeth [5].

Inlays

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Inlays were created by drilling a hole in the labial surface of the tooth and inserting a small stone. Similar to the technique for filing, water and sand would have been used, however the drill would have been rotated to make a hole in the tooth. This technique is similar to the one used to drill holes in beads, leading some researchers to suggest that the people who performed the dental modification were also jewelers because the skills implemented in creating the inlaid stones and drilling teeth are similar to those needed to make jewelry or mosaic masks [6]. The material most commonly used as an inlay was jadeite, however other substances utilized include pyrite, hematite, turquoise, and obsidian [7]. The Maya may have employed a cement or paste to secure the inlaid stone, or just fit it into place [8].

History

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According to Javier Romero, the practice of dental modification originated in the Valley of Mexico at around 1400 B.C. during the Early Preclassic Period [9]. Initially the only method of modification was filing, but during the Middle Preclassic between 900-600 B.C. the technique of inlays was developed [10]. During the Late Classic Period (A.D. 600-900) both upper and lower teeth were being decorated and the patterns were becoming more elaborate. Teeth from this period exhibit combinations of filing and inlays and sometimes more than one material could be combined in one inlay [11]. By the Postclassic Period the use of inlays as decoration decreased, as did the practice of dental modification among males. At this time filing was the main method of dental modification and was practiced primarily among females [12]. Because he observed this custom after it was no longer popular among males, it is for this reason that Diego de Landa attributed it solely to women.

Patterns and What They Represent

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Diego de Landa describes dental modification among Maya women Post-Contact, saying women “had a custom of filing their teeth leaving them like the teeth of a saw, and this they considered elegant” [13]. Although the modification was done for aesthetic reasons, it also symbolized other things.

Gender

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The frequency of dental modification, in general, appears to have been the same for both sexes. However, though both inlays and filing can be seen in both sexes, Maya females tended to display more filing of their teeth and Maya males exhibit more use of inlays. In addition, certain patterns are gender specific. These style differences could be due to “social roles” [14].

Region and Ethnicity

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Dental modification is performed by filing the tooth in variety of different shapes and can also incorporate from one to three inlays per tooth, creating many combinations. These combinations number as many as 59 different “forms,” or patterns found from Mexico to South America. However, most of these patterns were specific to Central America and the Maya area [15]. According to Tiesler Blos, patterns and materials used in the inlays vary by region and also display local differences. This indicates to her that this “custom wasn’t regulated by law or norm” and could be specific to certain lineages [16]. Williams and White concur that regional differences exist in the distribution of patterns and also come to the conclusion that certain patterns could be indicative of different ethnicities or social organizations [17].

Social Status

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In the studies of modified teeth surveyed here dental modification itself does not appear to be an indicator of social class or status. Based on burial location, style, and associated goods some individuals who would qualify as low-status were found with dental modification, while some of those with high-status burials were not [18]. Though the use of dental modification does not appear to be restricted to the elite class, some patterns could be representative of specific elite lineages, or family groups, or levels among the elite class [19].

References

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  • Romero, Javier (1970), "Dental mutilation, trephination, and cranial deformation", in Stewart, Thomas Dale (ed.), Physical Anthropology. Handbook of Middle American Indians, vol. 9, Austin: University of Texas, pp. pp.50-67, ISSN 0-292-70014-8 {{citation}}: |pages= has extra text (help); Check |issn= value (help)
  • Saville, Marshall (1913). "Pre-Columbian Decoration of the Teeth in Ecuador. With Some Account of the Occurrence of the Custom in Other Parts of North and South America". 15 (3): 377–94. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help); Unknown parameter |journallink= ignored (help)
  • Stewart, Thomas D. (1941). "New examples of tooth mutilation from Middle America". American Journal of Physical Anthropology. XXVIII: 117–24. ISSN 0002-9483.
  • Tiesler Blos, Vera (1999), Head Shaping and Dental Decoration Among the Ancient Maya: Archaeological and Cultural Aspects, Chicago {{citation}}: |format= requires |url= (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • Tozzer, Alfred (1941), "Landa's Relacion de las Cosas de Yucatan: A Translation", Peabody Museum Papers, vol. XVIII, Cambridge: Harvard University
  • Williams, Jocelyn S. and Christine D. White (2006). "Dental modification in the postclassic population from Lamanai, Belize". Ancient Mesoamerica. 17 (1): 139–51. ISSN 0956-5361.
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Phoenixone (talk) 19:21, 22 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

  1. ^ Romero 1970:50, Williams & White 2006:139
  2. ^ Stewart 1941:118
  3. ^ Saville 1913:377-8
  4. ^ Romero 1970:52
  5. ^ Williams & White 2006:140-1, Tozzer 1941:125-6
  6. ^ Romero 1970:53, Williams & White 2006:141
  7. ^ Williams & White 2006:139&141, Romero 1970:53, Saville 1913:378, Tiesler Blos 1999:5
  8. ^ Romero 1970:53-4, Williams & White 2006:141
  9. ^ Romero 1970:52
  10. ^ Williams & White 2006:139, Romer 1970:52, Tiesler Blos 1999:5
  11. ^ Romero 1970:53-4
  12. ^ Romero 1970:53-4, Tiesler Blos 1999:5, Williams & White 2006:139
  13. ^ Tozzer 1941:125
  14. ^ Williams & White 2006:146,148, Tiesler Blos 1999:5
  15. ^ Romero 1970:52
  16. ^ 1999:5-6
  17. ^ 2006:148
  18. ^ Romero 1970:56-7
  19. ^ Williams & White 2006:139,147-8, Tiesler Blos 1999:5
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