Human Teeth Discovered in Mexico's 300-Year-Old 'Lord of Patience' Christ Statue NTDTV
go to original August 9, 2014

Human teeth found in Christ statute (NTDTV)

While restoring an 18th Century Christ statue, specialists in Mexico were shocked to discover it has human teeth.

Art restoration specialists from Mexico's National School of Restoration, Conservation and Museology x-rayed the Christ figure before beginning their restoration efforts.

When the x-rays came back they were surprised to see that the teeth on the statue once belonged to an adult human before they were inserted into the head of the statue.

"In this case we found that it has teeth that belonged to a human, we noticed it because the roots can perfectly be seen in the X-rays and for its size we know it were from an adult," Fanny Unikel who led the restoration effort said.

Teeth and nails in some statues are often made of animal bone, but Unikel said she had never heard of real teeth being used before.

The institute suspects the teeth were donated by a parishioner when the work was being made.

In the 18th Century people often donated human hair and clothes to be used on statues giving them a more realistic look.

"It's a figure that tends to be very natural so it is not strange that someone had used that kind of teeth if having access to them but it (the teeth) are not a relic," Unikel added.

The restored Lord of Patience figure is housed at the San Bartolo Cuautlalpan Temple, in Zumpango, just north of Mexico City.

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