Blue Bridge Lane
&
Fishergate House
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In uncleaned teeth, plaque, which is made up of a mixture of food debris, bacteria and saliva, forms around the necks of the teeth. If plaque is not removed, it becomes mineralised into hard concretions on the teeth, termed calculus. These adhere to the tooth surfaces which are not affected by chewing (Jones 1972, 55) and increase in build-up over time. Calculus is commonly observed in skeletons from archaeological contexts, although it may flake off in the burial environment, during excavation or cleaning.
Calculus was recorded by severity (scored as flecks of calculus, slight, moderate, or heavy deposits) and tooth surface using Brothwell's technique (1981). The most severe deposits were noted on the tongue surface of the lower anterior teeth and the cheek surface of the upper molars, near the salivary glands. A total of 63% of the population had calculus deposits on one or more teeth, which affected almost all adults and 28% of children. Forty-four percent of teeth were affected, including 5% of deciduous teeth, 35% of permanent teeth of children, 76% of female and 73% of male teeth. The quantity of teeth affected was not dissimilar to prevalence rates at Hull Magistrate's Court (90% of adults affected; 66% of male teeth and 64% of female teeth), Towton (78.6% of male teeth affected) and St Nicholas Shambles (60% of jaws affected). This suggests that the prevalence of calculus per skeleton and tooth at Fishergate House was normal for medieval populations.
The majority of calculus deposits were characterised by slight concretions (66%) or flecks of deposits (21%), with fewer moderate (15%) and very few heavy concretions (2%). The frequency and severity of concretions increased with age, with no moderate or heavy deposits affecting deciduous teeth. The greatest of calculus lesions were observed in the mature adult group (76.6% of mature adult teeth affected).
Although caries and calculus are not mutually exclusive, and are often observed together (Hillson 1996, 260), this was clearly not the case at Fishergate House, where only 6% of teeth with calculus also showed evidence for caries.
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