Better Teeth, Better Health? The Relationship Between Enamel Hypoplasia and Osteological Stress Markers in Eba Population of Northern Serbia

Abstract

The term "stress" has gained significant prominence in contemporary medicine, and its usage has become ubiquitous in recent years. Although the concept was initially introduced by Hans Selye in the 1930s in the context of endocrinology (Selye 1936: 32;1976), it has since evolved to encompass both physiological and psychological aspects in popular discourse, and is commonly used in the field of bioarchaeology (Temple and Goodman 2014; Reitsema and McIlvaine 2014). While criticism of the usage of "stress indicators" in bioarchaeology because of their vagueness is valid (Temple and Goodman 2014; Edinburgh and Rando 2020), with proper contextualisation and specific research questions, they can still be very useful tools. Bioarchaeological stress markers include porotic hyperostosis, cribra orbitalia,