How dental wear can tell us about the lifestyles and trade specialization of the Philistine populations in the Iron Age Levant

The Philistines lived on the coastal region of the Eastern Mediterranean during the Iron Age. It is thought they were one component of the “sea peoples,” migrating to the southern Levant from the Aegean region in the late Bronze Age and early Iron Age (Fischer & Bürge, 2017; Oren, 2000). Their lands contained the cities of Ashkelon, Ashdod, Gath, Gaza, and Ekron. Ancient Egypt lay to the south, and to the east was the Kingdom of Judah. These cities flourished from the 12th to 6th centuries BCE (Maeir et al., 2013; Yasur-Landau, 2010).

A fascinating study published in this issue by Kalisher and their team examined the remains of those people previously excavated from a cemetery at Ashkelon dating from the 10th to 8th centuries BCE (Master & Aja, 2017). They investigate lifestyle in the population by focusing on the ways they used their teeth (Kalisher et al., 2024). In order to understand how people used their teeth in the past, we can study both macrowear and microwear. Macrowear indicates the worn areas of the teeth that are visible to the naked eye, which may take many years to form. Microwear requires microscopy to visualize tiny scratch marks resulting from abrasion of the tooth surface and is thought to reflect how the teeth have been used in the weeks prior to death.

Distinct from the kind of tooth wear we all experience from chewing food, it was found that 11% of individuals exhibited severe and distinctive wear compatible with use of the teeth as a tool, or a third hand. The evidence for the use of the teeth to process materials was very similar in men and women. Furthermore, the abnormal tooth wear was found in both adults and older children. This would suggest that in a subset of the population (perhaps certain families involved with particular trades), the teeth were used as tools and the children were trained in these techniques by the adults. It was noted that a number of the wear patterns match those found in other preindustrial coastal communities around the world. The types of wear noted indicate the use of the teeth in paramasticatory activities such as gripping, anchoring and stripping of fibers. It seems plausible that such activities were undertaken for coastal trades such as making fishing nets, ropes, boats, baskets, and related crafts.

This research highlights the seafaring connections of the Philistines and demonstrates the role of the mouth as a tool in early societies. The fact that only a tenth of the population had such distinctive tooth wear is important. It would seem to indicate the specialization of certain families in the population who undertook those trades requiring the use of their teeth to manufacture their goods 3000 years ago.