Ancient dental calculus and diet

Dental calculus has been often considered as a consequence of dietary habits, mainly related to the post Neolitic agricultural development. The presence of fossilized bacteria in the Kebara 2 teeth, aged 60.000 years BP, and the similarity of oral pathologies in pre and post Neolithic samples confirm the multifactorial etiology of oral diseases in general and dental calculus in particular.     

A probable case of prehistoric kidney stone disease from the northern Cape Province, South Africa

During the excavation of isolated graves along the north shore of the Orange River in the Cape Province of South Africa, a skeleton was uncovered that showed two large calcareous deposits near the lumbar region of the vertebral column. The individual was an adult female of about 55 years of age at the time of death. The calcified residue did not in any way resemble the external or internal anatomical form of a kidney, but X-ray powder diffraction analysis and scanning electron microscopy identified the material as apatite (Ca10(PO4)6 (OH)2), a common constituent of human urinary calculi. It is postulated that the bilateral calcification was the result of a chronic renal disorder. Although it is rarely possible to identify the cause of death from skeletal remains alone, the disorder as seen in this specimen would appear to have been very severe and may well have been the ultimate cause of death.