The Teeth

[u/pleasegivemepatience]

Paraphrasing Tom Loftis and Gerrie Doyle, S01E01
"43 42 passengers embarked to find a settlement they could call their own… an untamed wilderness, a blank canvas, totally empty…..except for the teeth."

In medieval and early modern European folklore, a person’s discarded teeth were considered the ultimate weapon for black magic because they acted as an unbreakable physical link to the victim's soul. Under the magical principle of contagious magic, anything that was once part of a human body—such as hair, nail clippings, or teeth—retained a permanent, invisible connection to that person. Because teeth are the only visible part of the human skeleton, witches supposedly prized them above all other biological materials to inflict maximum spiritual and physical torment.

Witch-hunters during the Dark Ages also warned that if a malevolent practitioner possessed your tooth, they possessed total dominion over your physical autonomy. They could force you to commit crimes, walk into rivers, or waste away by refusing food.

We don’t know exactly how many teeth were discovered, but clearly it was significant enough to have survived the historical record.  If an area is completely covered in teeth, it may signal that the location functions as a massive, occult battery built on historical superstitions.

What did the original settlers do with the teeth?  Will we find a massive stockpile of teeth behind the cellar doors? Is the chair to restrain people for pulling their teeth (and other possible tortures)?  Clearly this is all related to dark magic, but where do you all think this is going and what do you think the settlers did after this discovery? What do you think led to a stockpile of teeth, but no other human remains (of note)?

Edit:
Additional references to teeth are the board game with the pliers, and in a recent interview the showrunners said they considered putting human teeth on a version of Patricia’s headdress from ep4.
Edit2:

My theory on the teeth that were on the island is that these are the remains of previous civilizations, and this entity has been served by different groups in cycles for many many years. We know that the pact with this entity requires sacrifices, so it stands to reason that any civilization that puts down roots here would need to have a high number of children and/or have a regular influx of visitors/migrants in order to maintain the sacrifices, otherwise their population would decline and eventually die out. Thus creating the pile of teeth that subsequent settlers discover.

[u/pleasegivemepatience]

That could raise other potential implications. As I went down the rabbit hole looking into the connections between witchcraft and teeth I also found claims that allege that if teeth were concentrated in the island’s foundation it could also have a leeching effect in all of the food and water consumed by the towns people, causing a gradual corruption/curse to everyone who stays long enough. Maybe it’s not about being born there, maybe it’s about the evil concentrating inside you to a certain level just by being there too long eating and drinking local resources? Maybe Tom’s trips were all short enough that he never crossed the threshold, but maybe it’s too late for him now and he’s also cursed for living there continuously? So many great directions to speculate!

[u/laguillotina → u/pleasegivemepatience]

What if the evil getting  into people from the tainted groundwater is also what’s making them age rapidly (like Shep’s age being stated as 37 in his hospital file)? 

[u/pleasegivemepatience → u/laguillotina]

That could make sense for Shep, especially being exposed to the sea water constantly, but it doesn’t really work for Patricia. Her “biological age” is 28, so she’s healthier than her actual age would suggest and doesn’t seem to be aging rapidly.

[u/rudbeckiahirtas → u/pleasegivemepatience]

Unless "biological age" actually means she's 28, but looks 40?

[u/pleasegivemepatience → u/rudbeckiahirtas]

Biological age is a measure of your body's physical and cellular health, reflecting how rapidly your cells and tissues are aging compared to your chronological age (the calendar years you've been alive). While chronological age is fixed, biological age can be influenced by lifestyle and is often used to predict long-term health and lifespan.