THE MYTH BUSTED
Here's a fact, it is extremely unusual for a man of the Somerton Man's estimated age to have lost so many teeth. How could that have happened?
In a recent post and based on the release of the new AI-based image of the Somerton Man, I seriously questioned the narrative that has been developed around the Somerton Man's teeth.
Specifically, the statements have been made by Professor Abbott that the Somerton Man has a condition known as 'ANODONTIA' and that the diagram of the man's teeth drawn by the pathologist Dr. Dwyer and produced in evidence at the original inquest, was 'Useless'.
Here's the diagram:
Here's the diagram:
Dr. Dwyer had carried out many autopsies in his role as Government Pathologist, he was a well experienced and respected man in his field. There can be little doubt that he would have had cause to examine teeth and perhaps even draw diagrams of teeth as part of his work. I would also think it highly likely that on occasion he would have called in expert advice as and when needed if he had noticed anything 'unusual' with regards to the teeth of any of the bodies that he had examined.
In evidence Dr. Dwyer had mentioned that anyone seeing the man laughing would have noticed the missing teeth.
Professor Abbott stated that the only missing teeth you would see would be the missing rear teeth when he laughed. Here's a photo of a man laughing:
Professor Abbott stated that the only missing teeth you would see would be the missing rear teeth when he laughed. Here's a photo of a man laughing:
Can you see the rear gums? Are there any teeth missing?
No, of course, you can't see the rear gums, from this sort of distance, to see them you would almost have to be looking down this throat.
But you can see the missing lateral incisor now, can't you? Yes.
I was asked by one commenter to find more images of people who had Anodontia, the short answer is that I have looked, and there are numerous images, I will upload them shortly. I will say that in no way do they support Professor Abbot's statements.
What is Anodontia anyway?
First, let's dispose of the related term, HYPODONTIA, that occurs when 1 to 6 teeth are missing, the Somerton Man had a total of 18 of his 32 teeth missing, definitely not HYPODONTIA.
A very good question, according to various resources, ANODONTIA is a hereditary condition. Here's the definition:
'Anodontia is a rare genetic disorder characterized by the congenital absence of all primary or permanent teeth. It is divided into two subsections, complete absence of teeth or only some absence of teeth. It is associated with the group of skin and nerve syndromes called the ectodermal dysplasias.'
The underlined sentence is important, it says that ANODONTIA is associated with a group of skin and nerve syndromes. There are other issues that appear with ANODONTIA. And here they arefrom the same article:
'Anodontia is an inherited genetic defect. The exact genes involved are unknown. However, Anodontia is usually associated with ectodermal dysplasia.
Ectodermal dysplasia is not one disorder but a group of closely related hereditary conditions that affect the hair, nails, skin, and sweat glands. Symptoms of these hereditary conditions include:
alopecia
lack of sweat glands
cleft lip or palate
missing fingernails
In rare cases, anodontia occurs without ectodermal dysplasia. This is likely due to an unknown genetic mutation.' https://www.healthline.com/health/anodontia#outlook
Notice the underlined issues? None of them are evidenced in the Somerton Man autopsy. In rare cases only are those symptoms missing. This was not mentioned by Professor Abbott in his claims.
It can be said that coincidentally, Professor Abbott's conclusions happily are in line with his thinking on the parentage of Robin Thompson.
The bottom line is that there is nothing in the evidence given by Dr. Dwyer that supports Professor Abbott's claims of Anodontia. To claim that Dr.Dwyers diagram is 'Useless' is totally incorrect and misleading.
Why do I say that? Because the real issue has been overlooked.
THE QUESTION THAT WAS NEVER ASKED
Of one thing there is no doubt, the Somerton Man had 18 teeth missing.
Why was that never raised as an issue? I am as guilty as anyone else, I have literally only considered it in the last week or so.
Here's a fact, it is extremely unusual for a man of the Somerton Man's estimated age to have lost so many teeth. How could that have happened?
I have done some research and there needs to be more. Here are some reasons for such significant loss of teeth:
Gingivitis.
A gum disease, commonly related to diet and records indicate that many POWs suffered from this issue which literally rotted the gums and teeth fell out. Commonly found in men who had been prisoners of war for an extended period. The same can be said of other Periodontal diseases.
Radiation Sickness Exposure to radioactive materials, an atomic reaction or explosion can cause radiation sickness. Symptoms include loss of hair and/or teeth with possible damage to the vital organs.
Chemical Warfare. Not widely discussed were the extensive experiments carried out by Porton Down in the UK during the early Cold War years. Servicemen were deliberately exposed to various chemical agents according to numerous sources. Were such experiments carried out in Australia? There are rumours but that is all.
Given Paul Lawson's most recent statement regarding the analysis of the hair samples he had kept, that showed the presence of Strontium 90, it is reasonable to conclude that Radiation sickness is a likely cause of the loss of teeth in the Somerton Man.
There being no evidence to support the claim of Anodontia, the MYTH IS BUSTED.
What are your thoughts?
Operation Sandstone?
ReplyDeleteYes, certainly worth taking into consideration, do you have some thoughts to share on this?
DeleteOnly an exhumation and analysis of the teeth and DNA can positively confirm a genetic disorder IMO. All we can do is speculate on the ears and whatever his ears might indicate. The assertion that Robin is his child is flimsy and could erroneously be keeping people looking for him being in the same place as Jessica when Robin was conceived. Until there's hard evidence of DNA saying that Somerton Man fathered Robin, we should not limit our search of records based upon assumptions that might not be true
ReplyDeleteO agree, the final determination can only be made then. The ears were a family trait in the Harkness family, I had spoken with a grandson of Jess, he has the same ear type as the Somerton Man but his mother was born after the Somerton Man's time. The teeth story as you put it is flimsy to say the least and not what you would expect from Professor Abbott.
ReplyDeleteOne good thing about the record we have for the man's teeth of course is that uf there is an exhumation, then he should have the same number and layout as the diagram made by Dr.Dwyer, that makes it far from being 'useless'.
The minerals in his teeth enamel are like tree rings and they can tell you a lot about where he's been living over time. This might prove even more usefull than his DNA alone. So examining his teeth will be very important regardless of whether they confirm a genetic condition or not, and whether he's fathered Robin or not. Because wheres he lived over his lifetime and when will narrow the search of records and possibly give up his identity.
ReplyDeleteGood thoughts. The teeth already tell us something, if our man was early 40s he was of 'service' age for WW2. Enlistment in the services, Western forces, included a fairly rigorous medical examination including a dental examination. If he had significant problems they would have been picked up at that point and I would say that having half your teeth missing was significant. That being so then it would suggest that he was not in Western forces or, if he was, he may have been a POW as pointed out in an earlier post. It's a good discussion point and worth exploring further.
ReplyDeleteIs there anything in the existing evidence that points to a time when he might have lost his teeth? If it was recent, then it could point to radiation poisoning from weapons tests such as Operation Sandstone. The organ damage could be an indicator, though the absence of skin lesions is perhaps surprising?
ReplyDeleteOne might even infer that the reluctance to exhume could stem from a perceived radiological risk, though I'm told that even Chernobyl first responders' bodies were not a danger to others per se.
What about the "zinc-lined coffin", though? Or the concrete lining of the grave?
I haven't seen any evidence about the teeth other than the comments made in Dr.Dwyer's statement at the inquest, it was quite clear and, when taken together with his diagram of the teeth, it's astonishing how it has been interpreted and apparently it was only done to fit a particular narrative.
ReplyDeleteGood question regarding radiation sickness, I found this comment, the link is shown below:
Unlike the skin lesions caused by chemical or thermal damage, the lesions caused by radiation exposures do not appear for hours to days following exposure, and burns and other skin effects tend to appear in cycles. The key treatment issues with CRI are infection and pain management.
Cutaneous Radiation Injury (CRI)|CDC Radiation Emergencieswww.cdc.gov › nceh › emergencies › criphysicianfactsheet
So it seems that lesions don't appear at once, it can take days. Until now my thoughts were that if he had been affected by radiation, then it may have been how he met Jess in 1946. That of course is just an assumption. He may well have met her previously but not necessarily in her nursing capacity. That being the case, the question then would be could he have been affected in the days leading up to 1st December 1948? Where exactly could that have taken place? Much wold depend on what records might exist in Australia regarding any fission experimentation in 1948. I wouldn't doubt that if there had been any experiments, the records would have long gone. Still worth looking though.
On the coffin and the grave itself, I wonder if the zinc-lined coffin was used because he had been embalmed? I don't know the answer to that. On the use of a concrete lined graves, some cemeteries do that because of the nature of the soil, the Somerton Man's grave had two earlier occupants, perhaps that was another reason for the lining being in place. Worth checking the West Terrace Cemetery website to see when and if they started doing that.