“Teeth and Archaeology” was the title of the lecture held on 1st May, 2025 at the Institute of Physics close by King’s Cross railway station.
In her introduction, Helen Nield, the current President of the Lindsay Society said that she was sure Lilian Lindsay would have been eagerly awaiting the talk having experienced, as she wrote to a fellow dentist, “the excitement of excavating a Neolithic tomb in Kent in the year 1910.” This was the Coldrum Long Barrow near West Malling.
Don Walker, a senior human osteologist at MOLA (Museum of London Archaeology), gave a superbly photographed presentation highlighting the findings, predominantly from the HS2 and Spitalfields excavation sites. Many pathological features were illustrated including jaw fractures, extensive bone destruction due to apical infections and cysts as well as tooth wear and caries. Some teeth appear to have been repaired with a filling material while dentures of varying designs and materials tended to be excavated from the wealthier burial plots.
With the development of new analytical techniques we were told how it was possible to determine where an individual was born and their travels throughout life before arriving and subsequently being buried in London – many having travelled across Europe to get here.
The talk proved a fascinating detective story of how medieval people lived, what they ate, where they came from and how they died.
His lecture was followed by numerous questions from a very appreciative audience and was brought to a close by Helen, who thanked Don for such an interesting and highly entertaining lecture and presented him with the now customary bottle of red wine.