Child’s tooth found during Structure Seventeen sample processing

One of 2024’s most surprising finds was a child’s milk tooth in one of Structure Thirty-Four’s orthostatic boxes.

And now we have another!

During excavation, bucketloads of samples were gathered from across the site for processing by Cecily Webster back at the UHI Archaeology Institute. Last week she found the tooth while working on a sample from Structure Seventeen (c.3200BC), one of Eight’s two predecessors.

Milk teeth – also known as primary, baby, or deciduous teeth – begin to emerge in infancy and typically start falling out around age six.

The first lower molar from Structure Seventeen was examined by Dr Jen Miller, of the UHI Archaeology Institute. Evidence of wear confirmed it had been used for chewing, indicating it did not belong to an infant and had yet to come through the gum.

The fact the roots of the tooth had been completely reabsorbed strongly suggests it had been lost naturally.

As a child grows, permanent teeth form beneath the gums and gradually push upward. This pressure activates a natural process called root resorption, where the body breaks down and absorbs the roots of the baby teeth. As the roots dissolve, the teeth loosen and eventually fall out, making way for the adult teeth.

Jen explained: “In modern children, the first molar is typically lost between the ages of 9 and 11. Given the complete resorption of the Ness tooth’s root, it’s reasonable to infer that its owner was likely somewhere within that age range.”

“The tooth is quite small, but not excessively so, and the evidence of lines on the crown suggest stress in early years, when the tooth was forming.  This could have been nutritional or relate to episodes of poor physical health.”

The tooth’s presence in Structure Seventeen doesn’t mean the child was connected to the building or its use. is probably unrelated, given it was found in midden material used to cover its remains and provide a flat surface for the construction of Structure Eight around 3100BC.

Although the discovery of a second milk tooth on site does suggest children were present at the Ness complex, the context of the discovery doesn’t connect the tooth’s owner to Structure Seventeen.

The molar was found in midden used to infill the building’s remains and provide a flat surface for the construction of Structure Eight around 3100BC. This material could have come from somewhere else on site.