3000-year-old sawn-off tooth may be the earliest evidence of horse dentistry
Three thousand years ago, a horse in Mongolia had a toothache that was probably making it—and its owner—miserable. So the owner tried to help, by attempting to saw the painful top off the offending incisor. The procedure is among the earliest evidence of veterinary dentistry in the world, according to a new study, and the practices that flowed from it may have helped horses transform human civilization.
"It's a great study," says Robin Bendrey, an archaeologist and ancient horse expert at the University of Edinburgh who was not involved in the work. As horses became more important, he says, nomadic herders "are investing greater effort in understanding how to care for them."
[...] Together with another cut tooth from around the same time, the discovery shows that about 2000 years after horses were first domesticated, people were still figuring out the best way to take care of their teeth using basic stone tools.
Origins of equine dentistry (DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1721189115) (DX)
(Score: 3, Touché) by Snotnose on Monday July 09 2018, @01:58AM
Is this an appropriate passive-aggressive approach to your wife's dental bills?
When the dust settled America realized it was saved by a porn star.
(Score: 2) by Subsentient on Monday July 09 2018, @02:18AM (2 children)
I have a hard time believing the horse would just let the owner saw out the tooth without anesthetic. That sounds excruciatingly painful. How the hell did he hold the horse still long enough?
And wouldn't that just move the pain further down if he sawed off the top part of the tooth and nerve?
"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." -Jiddu Krishnamurti
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 09 2018, @02:32AM
Is it a bird!? Is it a plane!? No, it's a giant claw crane - the sort one would see in a crane game for children - floating in the air; it was not attached to anything, which baffled those who witnessed it. And this enigmatic crane was carrying something. A stuffed animal? A toy? No. It was a man.
The man was truly terrifying; he was obese and monstrous; he was balding and grinning; and most of all, he was violent. Such a man was being carried by the levitating crane. Then, without warning, he was dropped on top of something; or rather, someone.
The man landed on top of the unsuspecting woman and knocked her down. Immediately, as though he were a seasoned veteran, he began beating and violating her. The woman screamed, but no one cared; certainly not the man. Eventually, the level of violence the man dispensed caused the woman to break and lose the entirety of her motion. The man sighed in satisfaction and then waited to be picked up.
The floating crane, having somehow sensed that the man was done, picked him up and took him to the next target. Just how many toys would the man get to break today? He couldn't wait to find out...
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 09 2018, @06:09AM
There were more then a few Anticholinergics plant sources available at the time. Mandrake, henbane and (deadly) nightshade could all have been used. It's what people used all over before Christians started making their major exports off beer & wine and banned other drug sources as "witchcraft".
What, did you think the big Pharma spurred drug wars was anything new?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 09 2018, @05:16AM
"It'll only hurt a bit" was the last thing I heard before the pain overtook me. I wanted to scream, but my mouth was full of stainless steel. She sensed my reaction and told me to think about how Jesus suffered for us. At least his pain had to go through the spine, I thought. That's got to help a bit. Mine ran straight to my brain through a only few inches of nerves, which probably look like that dark thing you pull out of shrimp. "Hold on, now it's going to hurt just a little more" she said...
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday July 09 2018, @01:25PM
Why do people say Don't Look A Gift Horse In The Mouth? [phrases.org.uk]
If someone is gifting you a horse, their intention is good. They want you go have something good and useful. But sometimes a gift includes other hidden gifts as part of it. Like money in the ashtray. Or a classified database on that gift computer's hard drive. Or drugs in the wheel well.
That horse might have Amazon Gift cards in $500 denomination in its mouth. If you don't look, you would miss out on a valuable part of the gift that the giver gave you. Whoever originated that saying was not thinking about Amazon Gift cards.
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.