Vikings Filed Their Teeth, Skeleton Study Shows

Vikings Filed Their Teeth, Skeleton Study Shows: "Vikings Filed Their Teeth, Skeleton Study Shows
Stefan Lovgren
for National Geographic News
February 3, 2006

No one would accuse them of being dandies, but contrary to popular belief, the Vikings took great pride in their looks.

One beautification technique of the ancient Norsemen was to file their teeth, a new study shows.

Photo: Filed teeth from Viking skeleton

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A Swedish anthropologist analyzed 557 Viking skeletons dating from A.D. 800 to 1050 and discovered that 24 of them bore deep, horizontal grooves across their upper front teeth."