Dental pathology and diet at Apollonia, a Greek colony on the Black Sea

Abstract

Dental pathology has the potential to provide insight into the composition of the diet and to reveal dietary differences based on age, sex and social status. Human skeletal remains from the Greek colonial site of Apollonia (5 th to 2 nd centuries BC) on the Black Sea coast of Bulgaria were analysed for various forms of dental pathology in order to: assess the prevalence of dental disease in the population; compare the dental pathology data from Apollonia with dietary data derived from ancient literary texts and from previous stable isotopic analysis of the colonists' remains; explore variations in dental disease with respect to age and sex; and compare the prevalence of dental pathology in the Apollonians with that of other Greek populations. The composition of the diet, as indicated by the dental pathology data, is consistent with the stable isotopic evidence from Apollonia and with the ancient literary texts, both of which indicate the consumption of a relatively soft, high carbohydrate diet. The higher frequency of dental caries, abscesses, calculus, and antemortem tooth loss in older adults compared with younger ones reflects the age-progressive nature of these conditions. The lack of significant sex differences in caries, abscesses, calculus and tooth loss corresponds with the stable carbon and nitrogen isotopic data derived from bone collagen, which indicate no significant sex differences in the consumption of dietary protein. In contrast, these findings conflict with the ancient literary texts, which refer to distinct dietary differences between males and females, and with the stable carbon isotopic values derived from bone carbonate, which indicate sex differences with respect to the overall diet. Despite the lack of marked sex differences in dental pathology, overall trends point to subtle dietary differences between males and females. A greater degree of tooth wear in males also hints at possible sex differences in the use of the teeth as tools.

A combined dietary approach using isotope and dental buccal-microwear analysis of human remains from the Neolithic, Roman and Medieval periods from the archaeological site of Tossal de les Basses (Alicante, Spain)

“…Thus, another type of dietary explanation should be considered to explain the human trend increase in both carbon and nitrogen values, perhaps the consumption of freshwater and C 4 resources together (Marin and Waines, 1994;Villegas Becerril, 2001) (consumption of freshwater resources could increase δ 15 N, while consumption of C 4 resources should increase δ 13 C). Moreover, diets low in carbohydrate and high in protein lead to minimal caries and elevated calculus rates (Keenleyside, 2008). The frequency of permanent teeth affected by caries (5.4%) and medium-level of dental calculus (12%) in the Medieval group from the Tossal de les Basses recovered individuals (Laguillo et al, 2009) suggest that animal products made a relative high contribution to diet (Bonsall and Pickard, 2015).…”

Paleohealth based on dental pathology and cribra orbitalia from the ancient Egyptian settlement of Qau

“…This finding tends to mirror previously reported findings in other populations (Fujita, 1995(Fujita, , 2013. Although we cannot speculate on the details, based on the roughly 3% rate of caries in both males and females, it can be assumed that the sugar and carbohydrate intake of the Qau people was low (Fujita, 1995;Keenleyside, 2008), and their eating habits probably did not induce frequent caries. However, a comparison with modern Somalians and Nigerians in the collection at the University of Cambridge revealed that in fact the ancient Egyptians clearly had a higher rate of caries (Fujita, 2013(Fujita, , 2014.…”

Agreement in the Scoring of Dental Caries by Dentists and Anthropologists

“…This kind of interest in dental caries stems from the completely different needs and concerns of various scientific disciplines. Dentists perceive lesions as an infectious disease (comparison : Ismail 1997;Keenleyside 2008;Larsen 1995) of teeth which must be removed with a dental drill and filled with a filling. For anthropologists, however, caries lesions are a source of valuable information about the life of past populations and they are not allowed to apply these destructive analytical methods.…”

“…Bioarchaeology and paleopathology are interested in the pathological conditions of dental tissues as dental caries (Scott, Turner 1988), pulpitis (Hillson 1996), peri-apical inflammation (Banerjee et al 2000), enamel hypoplasia (Hillson 1997), abrasion, erosion and resorption (Deter 2009), ante-mortem loss of teeth (Hillson 2001;Waldron 2009), calculus and periodontitis (Hillson 2005) or trauma (Buikstra, Ubelaker 1994). All of these pathologies can help establish a certain picture concerning lifestyle (Sheiham 2006), diet, food preparations, social status (Garcia-Closas et al 1997;Piovesan et al 2011;Reisine, Psoter 2001;Sheiham, Bönecker 2008), stress period during infancy (Kilian, Vlček 1989;Lovejoy 1985;Ubelaker 1987), sex differences (Keenleyside 2008;Lukacs 2008) and subsistence strategies (Nelson et al 1999). On the basis of these and other similar bioarchaeological studies, anthropologists and archaeologists have created conceptions of past populations.…”