Social identity: an interpretation of dental modification practices on Indonesian historical human remains

This research objective is to describe the social identity of the skeletal human remains based on dental modification. The research material is skeletal human remains from Kedaton Temple and Upas Well which consists of five individuals. These human remains are located in the residential complex of the kingdom of Majapahit (ca. 1300-1500), thus it can be assumed that they are associated with Indonesian classical period. The applied method of research is observation and comparison. Based on the observation of teeth, all individuals underwent dental modification. The male had the “T” pattern and the females had the “diamond” pattern. Comparison with other types of dental modifications in Indonesia shows that the pattern of dental modification among human remains from Kedaton Temple and Upas Well is different from the other modification patterns in Indonesia. If we relate the location of the grave and the location of the temple where are in the royal family residential area, hence it can be concluded that these human remains belonged to the high social status