Anthropology
Open Access

Abstract

Gauguin’s Teeth

William A Mueller and Caroline Boyle Turner

Four teeth were discovered, as a well was being uncovered on a property formerly owned by Paul Gauguin. The teeth were examined, subjected to DNA testing, compared to the artist’s deceased father’s DNA and were analyzed by strontium isotope analysis. The teeth were determined to be from a male of European origin. Their DNA matched that of Paul Gauguin’s father. Strontium isotope analysis showed them to have gone through a critical time of development in Western Peru where Gauguin lived as a child.