Gwinnett A J, Gorelick L
Scan Electron Microsc. 1979(2):575-80.
A study has begun of inlayed teeth of Meso-American Indian skulls using scanning electron microscopy and modelling techniques. Round cavity preparations 2-3 mm in diameter and 1-2 mm deep had been cut through the enamel and just into the underlying dentin of the teeth. The vertical walls of the preparation met the floor in either a square, rounded or undercut form. Towards its center, the floor was occasionally elevated, sometimes depressed and commonly rounded. Closer examination showed abrasion anomalies as concentric, shallow grooves cut into the tooth tissue. A modification of the Semenovian principle was employed to determine the tool: 1) from the marks registered the the cavity and 2) the outline form of the preparation itself. Preparing cavities experimentally in teeth using wood and stone drills and sand as an abrasive produced certain characteristics consistent with those in the Meso-American teeth in which wooden drills created a variety of cutting patterns which included flat, elevated and depressed floors in the preparations. We have tentatively concluded that suggestions for the use of a tubular drill does not adequately explain the variety of forms encountered and that the cutting patterns were more consistent with the use of a wooden drill and sand.
一项利用扫描电子显微镜和建模技术对中美洲印第安人头骨镶嵌牙齿展开的研究已经启动。直径2至3毫米、深1至2毫米的圆形牙洞预备体已穿透牙釉质，刚好切入牙齿下方的牙本质。预备体的垂直壁与底部相接处呈方形、圆形或倒凹形。朝向其中心，底部偶尔隆起，有时凹陷，通常呈圆形。进一步检查发现有磨损异常，表现为切入牙齿组织的同心浅沟。采用了对谢苗诺夫原理的一种改进方法来确定工具：1）根据牙洞上留下的痕迹，以及2）预备体本身的轮廓形状。用木钻、石钻和沙子作为磨料在牙齿上进行实验性制备牙洞时，产生了一些与中美洲牙齿相符的特征，其中木钻产生了各种切削模式，包括预备体中平坦、隆起和凹陷的底部。我们初步得出结论，关于使用管状钻的说法并不能充分解释所遇到的各种形状，而且切削模式与使用木钻和沙子更为一致。
