Histological enamel indicator of childhood stress in prehistoric skeletal samples.

Although previous paleopathological studies have used disturbances in enamel formation as indicators of childhood stress, the full potential of this technique has not been realized. This paper presents a test case which demonstrates that the frequency of disturbed enamel formation (i.e., Wilson bands) is associated with other stress indicators (i.e., probability of dying and infectious lesions) in three prehistoric skeletal samples representing the Middle Woodland (10.3%), Mississippian Acculturated Late Woodland (21.4%), and the Middle Mississippian (40.0%). Additionally, the mean ages at death of individuals with at least one Wilson band are lower than those without bands.These results suggest that Wilson bands are an indicator of the relative proportion of individuals who are high susceptibles in prehistoric populations. The data also corroborate the hypothesis that the adoption of maize agriculture in the prehistoric American Midwest is associated with increased stress.     

Observations of dental diseases among prehistoric populations of Hungary

The incidence of dental disease among people in developing countries today raises questions about the variation in the oral health of prehistoric populations. Considering these questions, we offer observations describing several types of dental disease which occurred among certain prehistoric populations of Hungary. The dental remains of 162 individuals recovered from seven sites of the Neolithic, Copper, and Bronze Age periods were examined for evidence of caries, hypoplasia, and periodontal disease. Appropriate methods were used to describe and record these dental lesions. The incidence of dental caries was low by comparison to other prehistoric agriculturists except for two forms of root caries: cervical and cemental. These types accounted for 68% of all the carious teeth recorded. Enamel hypoplasia was also lower than expected, occurring on only 4% of the total number of teeth. Periodontal abscesses were rare but other milder forms of periodontal lesions were frequent. Alveolar bone resorption occurred in varying degrees and followed the expected age distribution. The few exceptions were children or adolescents whose crania had other lesions suggesting a mineral metabolic disturbance. The lower incidence of enamel caries is likely due to high fluoride ingestion which also may have influenced the expression of enamel hypoplasia. No clear population trends were seen in dental disease incidence except for cemental caries which were found among Copper and Bronze Age remains.     

On the estimation of some demographic characteristics on a prehistoric population from the American Southwest

After a general discussion of some of the limitations and assumptions inherent in paleodemographic studies, a method for the estimation of average life expectancy when only deaths by age are known is described and applied to the remains from Point of Pines, a prehistoric Western Pueblo population from the American Southwest. It was found that the method was not applicable to these data in its entirety, since there were considerable differences in mortality shapes between this prehistoric group and those summarized in the U. N. Model Life Tables. It is suggested that a range of average life expectancy can be calculated when the intrinsic rates of natural increase vary, and these are given for the Point of Pines data.     

Osteoporotic bone loss in two prehistoric Indian populations

To examine the demineralizing effects of the ageing process on the human skeleton, a photon absorptiometric method was employed which measured bone mineral mass. Rates and amounts of demineralization were compared in two prehistoric Indian populations: Indian Knoll (dated between 2500 and 2000 B.C. ) of the Archaic Period and Pete Klunk (dated between 50 B.C. and 250 A.D. ) of the Middle Woodland or Woodland or Hopewell Period. The former was exclusively a hunting and gathering group while the latter supplemented its hunting and gathering with part-time agriculture. Archaeological and osteometric data suggest that Hopewell had a more nutritionally adequate and reliable diet than Indian Knoll. By regression slope analysis it was shown that, as in modern populations, trabecular and female rates of loss are greater, respectively, than cortical or male rates. Hopewell males and females lost bone at a faster rate than Indian Knoll males and females. When amounts of demineralization in these two groups were compared to that of a contemporary group, the Indian Knoll and contemporary populations were found to lose the same amount while Hopewell lost the greatest amount. It is suggested from these comparisons that dietary sufficency does not contribute significantly to skeletal maintenance during ageing.     

The chronological distribution of enamel hypoplasias from prehistoric Dickson Mounds populations

The chronological distributions of enamel hypoplasias (indicators of nonspecific stress) are assessed for 111 individuals from two prehistoric populations from Dickson Mounds, Lewiston, Illinois. The earlier population (circa A.D. 950-1150) involves a transition from an indigenous gathering-hunting tradition to increasing adoption of Mississippian lifeways. The later population (circa A.D. 1150-1300) is fully Mississippian (MM). Based on the occurrence of hypoplasias on all permanent teeth except third molars, 14 half-year periods from birth to 7.0 years are graded for evidence of hypoplasia-stress. Both populations have a low frequency of hypoplasia which occur before 2 years of age and after 4 years of age. A common peak frequency of hypoplasias between 2.0 and 4.0 years is suggestive of an elevated degree of stress at weaning. The peak frequency of hypoplasias is earlier in the MM (2.5-3.0 years versus 3.0-3.5 years in the pre-Mississippian population). In addition, the rise to and decline from peak frequency occurs approximately 0.5 years earlier in the MM. The earlier and sharper rise to peak frequency suggests earlier and more severe weanling-related stress. Hypoplasias chronologies are undoubtedly influenced by age-related host resistance factors (Sarnat and Schour, 1941). Nevertheless, these data demonstrate that populations may vary in their chronological distribution of hypoplasias and that these variations may provide useful information on age-related patterns of exposure to environmental stressors.     

Cranial injuries as evidence of violence in prehistoric southern California

Crania from the Channel Island area of southern California were examined for evidence of traumatic injuries. Well-healed depressed fractures in the outer table of the cranial vault are common in skeletal remains from the northern Channel Islands (18.56% n = 598) but rare in those from the mainland coast (7.5% n = 146). This prevalence of traumatic injuries among the islanders may be a result of intense competition over resources in a geographically circumscribed environment. The frequency of cranial injuries increases significantly between the early and late prehistoric periods on the Channel Islands. This temporal variation appears to reflect changes in patterns of violence associated with population growth and environmental instability.     

Odontometric profile of a prehistoric southeastern Florida population

This study analyzes and compares the dental size variation and sexual dimorphism of the Highland Beach Mound people, a late southeastern prehistoric aboriginal Florida population (ca. 800-1200 AD) with a somewhat earlier midwestern group (ca. 200-800 AD) and an Archaic sample (ca. 4160-2558 BC). The lengths and breadths of maxillary and mandibular permanent teeth of 99 individuals were measured, and crown surface areas were calculated for the molars. Results indicated that there was little sexual dimorphism. Only the mesiodistal dimensions of the upper P2 and lower C were significantly different at the P less than 0.05 level. In terms of dental size, what appears to be a chronologically based reduction in most points of comparison was seen in all three groups, with the exception of the molars, which were larger in the Highland Beach sample than in the earlier Schultz Mound.     

The association between Harris lines and enamel hypoplasia in prehistoric California Indians

Hypoplastic defects of tooth enamel and Harris lines in the long bones have been heralded as potentially useful indicators of health conditions in prehistoric populations. Both result from temporary cessation of growth processes due to similar types of disease, malnutrition, or other metabolic insult. An association test for the first six years of life was conducted on a large series of prehistoric California Indians, using femora and canines from young adults. No significant association was found. This is ascribable to differences in etiology and stability.     

Estimating prehistoric American Indian population size for united states area: Implications of the nineteenth century population decline and nadir

Implications of a revised United States American Indian nadir population and the pattern of decline leading to it are examined. Substituting the new nadir for that used by Dobyns (1966) lowers by several million his estimates of Indian population for the United States (and Canada) area. These estimates then become more compatible with ones currently being suggested by other scholars. The nineteenth century decline leading to this nadir is found to be remarkably linear. Assuming linearity in decline from initial European contact through the eighteenth century, an aboriginal population estimate of 1,845,183 for the United States area may be extrapolated, along with estimates for intervening years. The nineteenth century decline is then graphed with the data extrapolated to 1492. The resulting pattern of population decline is quite different from the ones suggested by Mooney (1928) and Dobyns (1966).     

Health and differential survival in prehistoric populations: prenatal dental defects.

Linear hypoplasia of the deciduous teeth is rare in most human populations, but common where nutritional status is poor. Deciduous enamel hypoplasia, hypocalcification, and hypoplasia-related caries are described in Middle and Late Woodland skeletal series from the Lower Illinois Valley. Gross enamel defects that can be referred to pre-natal development are found in 83 of 170 children under six years of age at death. Circular caries secondary to hypoplasia is significantly more common in the Late Woodland series, reflecting the apparent higher cariogenicity of Late Woodland diets. There is a significant association between prenatal dental defects and bony evidence for anemia and infectious disease. Children with enamel defects show relatively higher weaning age mortality than those without. These relationships suggest that at least moderate levels of malnutrition existed in Illinois Woodland populations.     

Insights from the inside: histological analysis of abnormal enamel microstructure associated with hypoplastic enamel defects in human teeth

We studied the abnormalities in enamel microstructure associated with enamel hypoplasia in human teeth from the early medieval (5th-7th century AD) cemetery of Barbing, Germany, using light and scanning electron microscopy. The main aim of the study was to test the hypothesis that by analyzing the microstructure of fully formed enamel it is possible to reconstruct the reaction pattern of secretory ameloblasts to stress events leading to enamel hypoplasia. From the histological findings, a sequence of increasing impairment of secretory ameloblast function involving three thresholds was deduced. Surpassing of each of these thresholds is assumed to result in characteristic changes in enamel microstructure attributable to specific functional/morphological alterations of secretory ameloblasts. Based on our results we propose a model identifying the principal factors influencing the reaction of secretory ameloblasts to stress. The present study demonstrates that by including microscopic analysis in the study of enamel hypoplasia, it is possible to obtain a more complete picture of the formation of these developmental defects than is possible by inspection of crown surface features alone, and to draw more substantiated conclusions about the possible nature of developmental defects of enamel.     

Mineral metabolism and microstructural defects in primate teeth.

There are numerous structural defects that occur in primate teeth due to variable calcification during certain growth stages. These interruptions are usually areas of hypomineralization in enamel and dentin which are referred to as Striae of Retzius and Hunter Shreger bands in the enamel or Incremental Lines of von Ebner and Contour Lines of Owen in the case of the dentin. The frequency of occurrence of these variations in mineralization can be related to such factors as growth tempo, dietary quality, state of health, and past disease episodes. Another structure that appears in the dentin is a region that fails to calcify and is referred to as Inter-globular Dentin. Our studies have shown that the microstructural quality of different species' dentition varies widely. Samples obtained from certain fre-ranging cercopithcoids show that these species have the least hypomineralizations while man has the most. Other primate species range between these two extremems with the pongids nearer to man in these characteristics, as previously noted by Sognnaes. Additionally, out initial study shows a great deal of diversity between prehistoric human populations in the microstructural quality of their teeth. We offer the tentative explanation that this variation is due to differences in the calcitying properties of the diet and hence a difference in the general state of their health.     

Hypoplastic area method for analyzing dental enamel hypoplasia

Most analyses of dental enamel hypoplasia compare frequencies of disturbed tooth types, which do not account for variability in the area of affected enamel. An alternate methodology, hypoplastic area, is presented here that accounts for this variability by combining acute and continuous enamel hypoplasia into an interval-level variable. The method compares samples based on individuals, by multiple tooth type variables, or by a single value rather than by tooth types. Use of the hypoplastic area method is illustrated by analyzing human skeletal dentitions in three archaeological samples: Meroitic Nubians from Semna South, Sudan; Anasazi from Navajo Reservoir, New Mexico; and Mogollon from Grasshopper Pueblo, Arizona. Both univariate and multivariate statistical tests are employed to assess variation in defects between individuals and samples. By incorporating measurements of continuous defects, the hypoplastic area method provides information beyond that of frequency data in comparing levels of stress. Flexibility of the method is also discussed. © 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Collected seeds and fruits from herbs as prehistoric food

New investigations of two archaeobotanical finds are presented: a large assemblage of pure fruits of Polygonum lapathifolium from Bremen-Strom, Germany and the gut contents of a bog body from Kayhausen near Oldenburg, Germany. The general question is to find out for sure which herb species were intentionally gathered for human consumption. To accept species as such, they have to fulfil mainly two criteria: they must occur in large and pure assemblages, separated from other species, and they should occur regularly in the stomach or gut of dead bodies. To ensure this, the data from all bog bodies whose intestines have been examined were compiled and in addition to this, fossil assemblages of the species in question were put together. It turned out that apart from gathering in the wild, the collection of seeds and fruits from weeds in the process of crop cleaning was a major source of their edible diaspores. Obviously some common weeds, obtained in this way, were welcome as an addition to human diet and received the status of secondary cultivated plants. The following six species are regarded as having surely been deliberately collected and used in human diet: Polygonum lapathifolium, Chenopodium album, Spergula arvensis, Fallopia convolvulus, Bromus secalinus and Glyceria fluitans. Another two, Setaria sp. and Rumex acetosella probably complete this list.     

Prevalence of mastoid infection in prehistoric Arizona Indians

In view of the reported high prevalence of otitis media and mastoiditis in the present-day Indian inhabitants of Arizona, when an opportunity arose to examine the skulls of prehistoric Indians in the collection of the Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, it was thought that determining the prevalence of mastoiditis in them might be helpful in the treatment and prevention of mastoid infections in the present-day population. Our findings are compared with those of two other studies of mastoiditis in prehistoric Indians in another area of the United States.     

Stable nitrogen and carbon isotope ratios in bone collagen as indices of prehistoric dietary dependence on marine and terrestrial resources in southern California

The ratios of 15N to 14N and 13C to 12C tend to be higher in marine than in terrestrial organisms. The concentrations of these isotopes in human bone collagen consequently can be used to make inferences about the contribution of marine and terrestrial resources to prehistoric diets. The utility of studying 15N/14N and 13C/12C ratios in conjunction with each other is illustrated by our analysis of 40 human burials from archaeological sites in the Santa Barbara Channel area of southern California. The mean delta 13C and delta 15N values (in per mil) of collagen from these skeletons decrease progressively from the Channel Islands (delta 13C = -14.0, delta 15N = +16.3) to the mainland coast (delta 13C = -14.5, delta 15N = +14.9) to the interior (delta 13C = -17.2, delta 15N = +10.9). These data suggest that Indians living on the Channel Islands during the late prehistoric period were heavily dependent on marine resources. The inhabitants of the mainland interior, in contrast, had a diet composed largely of terrestrial foods. From their isotope ratios, it appears that the Indians who lived on the mainland coast consumed a mixed diet containing substantial quantities of both marine and terrestrial resources. Differences in 15N/14N and 13C/12C ratios of individuals from mainland sites dating from the early and late prehistoric periods show that the marine component of the diet increased substantially through time. These isotopic data are consistent with pathological, faunal, and artifactual evidence of increased marine resource exploitation during the late prehistoric period.     

Principal-components analysis of prehistoric South Asian crania

Principal-components analysis is used as an investigative procedure for establishing temporal, spatial and evolutionary-developmental changes in Homo sapiens skeletal specimens from prehistoric sites in South Asia. It is concluded that cranial variables which cluster hunter-gatherers within the sample are related to facial architecture with respect to robusticity and size. Older models presumably reflecting genetic affinities and racial classifications of prehistoric South Asians which were based upon univariate-bivariate statistical analyses are not supported by the results of this principal-components analysis.     

海岱地区史前居民的拔牙习俗

在海岱地区古代居民中,北辛文化居民最早出现拔牙现象,都是拔除双侧上颌侧门齿,单一形式且高出现率的拔牙现象可能与成年仪式相关。结合考古材料和民族学资料来看,凿、敲或打应该是海岱地区史前居民去除牙齿的主要方式,具体操作应该是用细小且坚硬的工具抵在需去除的牙齿上,然后用石块等工具进行敲打。海岱地区古代居民对去除后的牙齿进行了相对随意或特意的处理,且原牙位空间没有进行其他填充。这种拔牙现象的消逝可能始于大汶口文化晚期,进入龙山文化时期海岱地区的这种拔牙现象出现了整体性的衰落。     

Crown dimensions of deciduous teeth from prehistoric India

Mean mesiodistal and buccolingual diameters are presented for deciduous teeth from the important Chalcolithic site of Inamgaon (1400–700 B.C.), a prehistoric farming community on the Deccan Plateau of western India. The deciduous teeth from Inamgaon are consistently larger than deciduous teeth of modern populations of European descent and smaller than the deciduous teeth of modern Australian aboriginals. Comparative data for prehistoric deciduous teeth are rare, especially for populations of southern Asia. The deciduous teeth of Mesolithic Europeans are comparable in size to certain dimensions of the Inamgaon teeth, and a small sample of deciduous teeth from the Iron Age site of Pomparippu (Sri Lanka) exhibits larger anterior teeth and smaller molar teeth than does the sample from Inamgaon.     

Functional implications of primate enamel thickness.

Recent evolutionary interpretations of Hominoidea have postulated functional relationships between tooth form, diet and masticatory biomechanics. A major consideration is the durability of the tooth under certain dietary conditions. Teeth with low cusps and thicker enamel are able to withstand heavy mastication of abrasive food bolus for a longer period. When comparisons are made between species of higher primates the variables of tooth size, cusp morphology, and enamel thickness appear to be related but until now no systematic analysis has been made to determine the functional relevance of several dental dimensions. This study provides data gained from comparisons of dentition of nine species of primates. Histological sections were made of the post canine teeth and 21 dimensions were compared. The relevant dimensions identified serve to withstand dental wear. The distribution of thicker enamel corresponded to the observed wear planes. Humans had thicker enamel than pongids while the macaque had the thinnest. These preliminary results tend to support theories which explain low, thick, enameled cusps in hominids.