Ice age Europeans as young as 10 years old rocked cheek piercings 30,000 years ago

https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/ice-age-europeans-as-young-as-10-years-old-rocked-cheek-piercings-30-000-years-ago
A study of Paleolithic skeletons from Central
Europe suggests people's teeth were worn down
and crowded together because of cheek piercings.
Strange, flat patches on the teeth of ancient
Europeans have puzzled archaeologists for
centuries. But one researcher thinks he's
solved the mystery: Ice age people as young as
10 years old rocked cheek piercings.
These piercings likely signaled a person's
membership in a group, according to John
Willman, a biological anthropologist at the
University of Coimbra in Portugal, but they
also caused teeth to move.
In a study published Jan. 23 in the Journal
of Paleolithic Archaeology, Willman looked at
dozens of skeletons of Pavlovian people, who
lived in Central Europe between about 25,000
and 29,000 years ago. His analysis focused
specifically on dental wear.
...
As humans age, the enamel on our teeth wears
down through repeated behaviors, like chewing,
grinding and sometimes holding objects in our
mouths. These activities typically cause
dental enamel to become flatter or slightly
angled on the chewing surface of the teeth.
But in these Stone Age Pavlovian jaws, Willman
noticed that the wear was on the cheek side of
the teeth instead.
"I thought that the patterns of dental wear
caused by labrets were a really good hypothesis
for what caused the wear in the Pavlovians,"
Willman said.
...
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s41982-024-00204-z
Probable Use of Labrets Among the Mid Upper
Paleolithic Pavlovian Peoples of Central Europe
23 January 2025