Sheep tooth

I always found these in West Wales, up on the Pembrokeshire cliffs, so I identified them straight away. Sheep in the city may have been more common 100 years ago, when you could buy a sheep’s head at the butchers for 3d – about £2.50 – it was poor food, like the plentiful evidence of oysters I have found on site. Particularly during rationing, a sheep’s head stew with vegetables would last a family for a few days.

Teeth are pretty amazing things – and we grow them with our faces! They will last a lifetime if we look after them and have survived 100 years of being buried. My own are gradually being worn away by night grinding – apparently the stresses of the days are showing in our teeth.