Female Vanity in the Early Modern Period: evidence from the science based reassessment of a supposed Merovingian dental appliance

Abstract

Musée de la Cour d'Or, Metz, France, possesses a female skull bearing a gold wire dental appliance claimed in a 1934 <i>Dental Cosmos</i> article on the history of dental prosthetics to be 'probably' Merovingian in origin. Inquiries in 2017 revealed current museum curators were unaware of this claim but were skeptical of such dating, suggesting scientific analysis might provide clarity. Carbon dating of a tooth from the skull was performed placing the artifact in the mid seventeenth-late eighteenth centuries, while Metz historical records reveal the find site was occupied by a convent of nuns for most of C14 dated period. Strontium isotopic analysis indicated that the woman was a local of the Metz region while fluorine analysis indicated exposure to fluoride early in life. Oral health status and the dentistry indicate the woman was of high social status.