Abstract
The tooth ablation ritual in Taiwan dates back to 4,500 years ago and has been reported all around the island from the Neolithic Age, the Iron Age and within the most recent 400 years. Such time consecutiveness is rarely seen in other parts of the world. Written records of different meanings of the ritual are found only in recent ethnographies. Thus, due to a lack of written records of rituals in prehistoric Taiwan, this research was conducted both with reference to ethnographies and within the context of archaeology and physical anthropological studies. In addition, this research examined 50 skeletons with tooth ablation features from the 162 skeletons found in burials from the Niaosung period, Niaosung Culture in the Shihchiao site, Sinshih Township, Tainan County, Taiwan. The relevance among gender, age, types of teeth ablated and presence of preauricular sulcus (experience of pregnancy) is worked out through archaeological analysis of burial placement and physical anthropological methodology while the social meaning of the ritual is reasoned out from an analysis of tooth crown measurements and genetic inheritance. This research found that at the Shihchiao site, the tooth ablation ritual was performed mainly on teenage and young adult females, with both maxillary lateral incisor and canine teeth ablated symmetrically. There is no positive correlation between tooth ablation and pregnancy experience. Nevertheless, pregnancy experience correlates with the placement of females'''' burials. The analysis of tooth crown measurements for genetic inheritance shows that ablated females include some who were genetically related and others who were not, which proves that tooth ablation does not label the social group of the females. The above analyses indicate that tooth ablation is highly correlated to adulthood and marital status, and that it is a unique rite of passage for females. The appearance of tooth ablation can also be given various meanings during the course of her life.