Study Reviews Seal Tooth Pendant from Kent’s Cavern

LONDON, ENGLAND—A new study of an artifact unearthed 160 years ago in southwestern England has determined that it came from an adult male grey seal, and not a badger, wolf, or beaver, as had been previously suggested. According to a statement released by London’s Natural History Museum, the researchers, led by Simon A. Parfitt of University College London, concluded that the tooth was extracted from a seal’s jaw, most of the root was removed, and a hole was carefully drilled into the remaining root with a pointed piece of flint some 15,000 years ago. “The pendant was probably worn for many years, because it’s become smooth through wear and repeated polishing,” said Silvia Bello of the Natural History Museum. “A long period of use would also explain why the neat circular hole became more oval shaped, as the cord gradually wore away at the tooth’s interior,” she added. The pendant is thought to have been lost by its owner in Kent’s Cavern, where it was discovered by William Pengelly, a Victorian-era archaeologist who kept notes on the layers of sediments and placements of the artifacts he found. At the time the pendant was lost, Kent’s Cavern was more than 60 miles from the coast, which suggests that people traveled long distances, perhaps to follow migrating animals. The grey seal tooth pendant could also signify that people traded across Britain, and possibly even Europe, the researchers explained. Read the original scholarly article about this research in Quaternary Science Reviews. To read about an 11,000-year-old shale pendant uncovered in North Yorkshire, go to "Mesolithic Markings."