Station: [50] Valuable Teeth

A mesh pouch decorated with dogs’ teeth, a pair of boars’ teeth that have grown to form a circle: in New Guinea, boar tusks and dog teeth were regarded as a type of currency and were coveted barter items. Broadly speaking, the dog teeth served as small change, while the impressive boar tusks were like high-value bank notes: genuine status symbols.

Boar tusks that were uniformly white and had grown to form an almost perfect circle were considered especially valuable. They were the real gems among the family treasure. Tied together in pairs, they were worn as jewellery at festivals and on special occasions.

To ensure that the tusks grew into the desired circle shape, young boars had their upper teeth knocked out. That left no teeth opposite the tusks in the lower jaw, which made them grow in a circle, so that the tip returned to the root and the whole tusk formed a ring.

But before the tusk took on this shape, the owners had to invest a lot of time and attention into caring for the animal. It usually took seven years for the tusk to form a circle. During that time, the animal had to be fed with soft cooked food. And care had to be taken that it didn’t knock out its tusk.

Often, the attempt to achieve a circular boar tusk failed. The wider the gap between the two ends, the less valuable they were.