Did Cebuanos file their teeth in a different way during the Iron or Metal Age (500 BCE-900CE) compared to the Contact Period (900 CE-1565 CE)?
This is what we will try to look into because it appears that two of our six burials, Burial 3 and Burial 6, show signs of filing through the removal of the crowns of their canines and incisors. This is quite different from the Contact Period practice we observed in Boljoon and in Plaza Independencia, for example, where the fronts of the teeth, not their crowns were filed from incisors to pre-molars.
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| Incisors and canines of Burial 3 showing the possible filing of their crowns. |
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| Incisors, canines and pre-molars of Burial 6 showing possible filing of their crowns to make them look even. |
It appears that our original hunch was way off. The filing does no appear even at all. This is not the result of burial deposition and taphonomy (the way the body was buried or the intrusion of tree roots and animals eating away parts of the body). Rather, this is probably the result of prolonged use, indicating an advanced age of probably 60 and above for this burial.
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