Abstract

Tooth pendants are among the most common and widespread ornaments in archaeology beside beads. These pendants have rarely been analysed on a multiple period and interpretational background.Earlier interpretations usually connect tooth pedants with the economy of a particular society and their meaning has often been reduced to amulets. The lecture however presents alternative possibilities for interpretation while stressing that the selection of animals for pendants is grounded in ideology. The lecture will offer an overview of the use of tooth pendants in Estonia from the first habitation c. 8600 BC until the Late Medieval period, c. 1600 AD. Two different periods appear 1) hunter-gatherer and early agricultural Stone Age; and 2) Late Iron Age-Medieval period. The different animal species of these two periods will be explored aiming to answer the question why the selection of animals has changed so dramatically. Another interesting feature is the modification of pendants fastenings, reshaping and replicas of tooth pendants. In brief, the lecture will focus upon the changing usage of tooth pendants.

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