Dental Health and the Transition to Agriculture in Prehistoric Ukraine: A Study of Dental Caries

Abstract

Bioarchaeological studies have found that, in general, the adoption of agriculture is associated with deteriorating oral health, most frequently manifested as an increase in the prevalence of dental caries. However, compared to other regions of the world, bioarchaeological studies focusing on prehistoric Europe have produced more variable results, with different populations experiencing deteriorations, improvements, and stasis in oral health. This study assesses the oral health of individuals of the Tripolye culture buried in Verteba Cave, Ukraine, within the context of the transition to agriculture in Eastern Europe. We compare the rates of dental caries between Tripolye farmers with earlier hunter-fisher-gatherers from Ukraine. The Tripolye were found to have carious lesions on 9.5 per cent of teeth, while the hunter-fisher-gatherers were found to be universally free of carious lesions. A Fisher's exact test demonstrates that this difference is statistically significant, supporting the model that the transition to agriculture was detrimental to oral health in prehistoric Ukraine. This could be related to the manner in which grain was processed by the Tripolye and the needs of their relatively population-dense society.

First isotope analysis and new radiocarbon dating of Trypillia (Tripolye) farmers from Verteba Cave, Bilche Zolote, Ukraine

“…It is likely that, given their stratigraphic context and associated material culture inventories, the original interments at Verteba belonged to the Trypillia farming groups that existed in this region of Ukraine during the Eneolithic period. However, despite a number of previous studies that consider the palaeopathology and ritual significance of this location (e.g., Karsten et al 2014;2015a;2015b, Kadrow et al 2003, Kadrow, Pokutta 2016, most of these skeletal materials are undated in absolute terms, being placed in a late chronological position within the Trypillia sequence on the basis of ceramic typology and evidence from late period settlement sites (see Nikitin et al 2010 andKadrow, Pokutta 2016 for summaries of the history of investigations at this location).…”

“…Importantly, had the mobility and dietary isotope analyses not been undertaken, the redating of this individual would not have been undertaken, as the initial Kiev date appeared valid. With this in mind, studies of dental pathology (e.g., caries rates and incidence of enamel hypoplasias; Karsten et al 2014;2015a;2015b) are called into question, as the rates of expression cannot be guaranteed to relate solely to the Trypillia farming groups in this region.…”

“…, Zvelebil 2009;Rowley Conwy 2011, and papers in both volumes), as Ukraine has good evidence for the indigenous adoption of farming; and in particular, these remains are important in relation to the nature of the Trypillia (Tripolye) farming culture of Ukraine (Ciuk 2008;Nikitin et al 2010;Menotti, Korvin-Piotrovsky 2012;Chapman et al 2014a;2014b;Karsten et al 2014;2015a;2015b), as they constitute some of the only human remains from this culture to be found so far. Whilst Jordan K. Karsten et al (2014;2015a;2015b) and Slawomir Kadrow and Dalia A. Pokutta (2016) have emphasised the ways in which these remains provide comparative materials for consideration of farming versus hunter-fisher-foragers lifeways in Ukraine (e.g., the caries and enamel hypoplasia studies undertaken by Karsten and co-workers), and a unique opportunity to study the lives, deaths and cultural practices of the Cucuteni-Trypillia culture in Western Ukraine (as assessed by Kardow and Pokutta), these studies have, unfortunately, relied on limited tual context necessitates an analysis of these remains using mobility studies (e.g., strontium ( 87 Sr/ 86 Sr), oxygen (δ 18 O) and carbon analyses (δ 13 C)) to distinguish between individuals of local and non-local origin (Slovak, Paytan 2011) in order to determine whether these individuals are in fact local to the region, and also to establish that they can realistically be shown to equate to the cultural groups in this region in the Eneolithic period. As such, this paper represents the first stages of an integrated scientific approach to the study of Verteba.…”

“…Due to their disarticulated nature, the precise context of these remains cannot be securely attributed to a late period in the Trypillian sequence (contra Karsten et al 2014;2015a;2015b) without absolute dating, and the diverse range of funerary activities in evidence need to be placed securely within the evolution of this farming culture if their significance is to be accurately interpreted.…”

Analysis of ancient human mitochondrial DNA from Verteba Cave, Ukraine: insights into the origins and expansions of the Late Neolithic-Chalcolithic Cututeni-Tripolye Culture

“…Regardless, the cave contains the largest accumulation of human remains associated with the Tripolye culture. In fact, very few Tripolye culture human remains exist, making the cave one of the most important sites to investigate diet, health, pathology, and population history of Trypillian peoples [18, 19].…”