Accentuated lines in the enamel of primary incisors from skeletal remains: A contribution to the explanation of early childhood mortality in a medieval population from Poland

Abstract

Physiological disruptions resulting from an impoverished environment during the first years of life are of key importance for the health and biological status of individuals and populations. Studies of growth processes in archaeological populations point to the fact that the main causes of childhood mortality in the past are to be sought among extrinsic factors. Based on this assumption, one would expect random mortality of children, with the deceased individuals representing the entire subadult population. The purpose of this study is to explore whether differences in early childhood survival are reflected in differences in deciduous tooth enamel, which can provide an insight into the development of an individual during prenatal and perinatal ontogeny. Deciduous incisors were taken from 83 individuals aged 2.0-6.5 years from a medieval inhumation cemetery dated AD 1300-1600. Prenatal and postnatal enamel formation time, neonatal line width, and the number of accentuated lines were measured using an optical microscope. The significantly wider neonatal line and the higher frequency of accentuated lines in the enamel of the incisors of children who died at the age of 2-3 years suggest the occurrence of stronger or more frequent stress events in this group. These results indicate that in skeletal populations mortality was not exclusively determined by random external factors. Individuals predisposed by an unfavorable course of prenatal and perinatal growth were more likely to die in early childhood.

Sex-related morbidity and mortality in non-adult individuals from the Early Medieval site of Valdaro (Italy): the contribution of dental enamel peptide analysis

“…While early age-at-death is suggestive of poor maternal health (Newman et al, 2019), post-neonatal mortality is related to exogenous factors (e.g. infectious diseases, undernourishment, parasitism) after the first month of life (Gowland, 2015;Lewis, 2007;Lewis and Gowland, 2007;Ządzińska et al, 2015).…”

Sex estimation by odontometrics of nonadult human remains from a contemporary Italian sample

“…However, differences in the quality of the environment during the complex process of odontogenesis (e.g., malnutrition, disease, climate, subsistence patterns, other negative factors) might influence tooth size and morphology, and ultimately early death occurs among the most susceptible members of the population (Riga, Belcastro, & Moggi‐Cecchi, 2014; Stojanowski, Larsen, Tung, & McEwan, 2007). Several studies have related skeletal manifestations of biological stress to the reduction in size of the permanent teeth as a result of the early deaths of nonadult individuals (Conceição & Cardoso, 2011; Stojanowski et al, 2007; Ządzińska, Lorkiewicz, Kurek, & Borowska‐Strugińska, 2015). Although a link has been suggested between reduced tooth size and physiological stressors in nonadult individuals (Guagliardo, 1982; Simpson, Hutchinson, & Larsen, 1990; Stojanowski, 2005; Stojanowski et al, 2007), any correspondence between nonadults mortality bias and the pathological indicators of poor health has been inconsistent and sporadic between different populations (Cardoso, 2008; Stojanowski et al, 2007).…”

A new multivariate method for determining sex of immature human remains using the maxillary first molar

“…Such individuals are disproportionally likely to have experienced chronic disease and periods of biological stress. Skeletal manifestations of biological stress have been suggested to include reduction in the size of permanent teeth (Conceição & Cardoso, ; Flores‐Mir, Raul Mauricio, Fernanda Orellana, & Major, ; Stojanowski, Larsen, Tung, & McEwan, ; Żądzińska, Lorkiewicz, Kurek, & Borowska‐Strugińska, ). However, the evidence presented to support this claim has been sporadic and inconsistent between populations (Cardoso, ; Stojanowski et al, ).…”