Earliest evidence for caries and exploitation of starchy plant foods in Pleistocene hunter-gatherers from Morocco

Humphrey, Louise; Groote, Isabelle De; Morales, Jacob; Barton, Nick; Collcutt, S. N.; Ramsey, Christopher Bronk; Bouzouggar, Abdeljalil

doi:10.1073/pnas.1318176111

Cited by 134 publications

(144 citation statements)

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“…Although some argue that Paleolithic foragers experienced high helminth loads (37,39,40), archaeological data instead show an increase in helminths in farming populations (33,(41)(42)(43)(44)(45) as compared with mobile, low-density hunter-gatherers. In summary, the overall effect of agriculture on health was a trend toward increasing morbidity and mortality (16,19,28,46), although the intensity of the trend exhibits some regional variation and inconsistencies (47)(48)(49)(50)(51)(52)(53)(54)(55)(56).…”

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confidence: 99%

Reproductive trade-offs in extant hunter-gatherers suggest adaptive mechanism for the Neolithic expansion

Page

Viguier

Dyble

et al. 2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

110

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The Neolithic demographic transition remains a paradox, because it is associated with both higher rates of population growth and increased morbidity and mortality rates. Here we reconcile the conflicting evidence by proposing that the spread of agriculture involved a life history quality-quantity trade-off whereby mothers traded offspring survival for increased fertility, achieving greater reproductive success despite deteriorating health. We test this hypothesis by investigating fertility, mortality, health, and overall reproductive success in Agta hunter-gatherers whose camps exhibit variable levels of sedentarization, mobility, and involvement in agricultural activities. We conducted blood composition tests in 345 Agta and found that viral and helminthic infections as well as child mortality rates were significantly increased with sedentarization. Nonetheless, both age-controlled fertility and overall reproductive success were positively affected by sedentarization and participation in cultivation. Thus, we provide the first empirical evidence, to our knowledge, of an adaptive mechanism in foragers that reconciles the decline in health and child survival with the observed demographic expansion during the Neolithic.quality-quantity trade-off | epidemiological transition | hunter-gatherers | Neolithic revolution | Neolithic demographic transition

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confidence: 99%

Reproductive trade-offs in extant hunter-gatherers suggest adaptive mechanism for the Neolithic expansion

Page

Viguier

Dyble

et al. 2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

110

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“…The influence of each of these factors on oral health has been assessed in various comparative studies, both on fossil hominins and extant humans. Dietary cause-effect relationships are best documented for caries, the prevalence of which is clearly related to consumption of starch-rich foods, both in Late Pleistocene and modern (archeological) human populations (Fujita 2012;Da-Gloria and Larsen 2014;Humphrey et al 2014;Lacy 2014a). As indicated by Costa et al (1980b), the prevalence of caries may also be related to other dietary preferences not related to starchy diets.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Caries has been documented in many Late Pleistocene Neanderthal and human populations, indicating that the prevalence of this condition was more significant than previously assumed (Lacy 2014). The highest prevalence (51%) of caries was recorded in the population of Taforalt, Morocco (~14000 BP), and was interpreted as reflecting a high percentage of starchy plant foods in their diet (Humphrey et al 2014). …”

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confidence: 99%

Comparative analysis of dentognathic pathologies in the Dmanisi mandibles

Margvelashvili

Zollikofer

Lordkipanidze

et al. 2016

American J Phys Anthropol

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Objectives: Due to the scarcity of the fossil record, in-vivo changes in the dentognathic system of early Homo are typically documented at the level of individual fossil specimens, and it remains difficult to draw population-level inferences about dietary habits, diet-related activities and lifestyle from individual patterns of dentognathic alterations. The Plio-Pleistocene hominin sample from Dmanisi (Georgia), dated to 1.77 million years ago, offers a unique opportunity to study in-vivo changes in the dentognathic system of individuals belonging to a single paleodeme of early Homo. Materials and Methods: We analyze dentognathic pathologies in the Dmanisi sample, and in comparative samples of modern Australian and Greenlander hunter-gatherer populations, applying clinical protocols of dentognathic diagnostics. Results: The Dmanisi hominins exhibit a similarly wide diversity and similar incidence of dentognathic pathologies as the modern human hunter-gatherer population samples investigated here. Dmanisi differs from the modern population samples in several respects: At young age tooth wear is already advanced, and pathologies are more prevalent. At old age, hypercementosis is substantial. Discussion: Results indicate that dentognathic pathologies and disease trajectories are largely similar in early Homo and modern humans, but that the disease load was higher in early Homo, probably as an effect of higher overall stress on the dentognathic system. Key words: aging, tooth wear, caries, periodontitisThe Plio-Pleistocene site of Dmanisi has yielded a large sample of hominin fossils associated with abundant and diverse faunal remains and Mode I stone artifacts (Gabunia et al. 2001;Ferring et al. 2011;Mgeladze et al. 2011). Occupation of the site began shortly after 1.85 Ma. The fossil hominin finds are dated to 1.77 Ma (Ferring et al. 2011). Dmanisi thus represents the earliest evidence of Homo outside of Africa. The well-preserved cranial, mandibular and postcranial remains of five individuals are unique in offering detailed insights into patterns of morphological variation within a paleodeme of early Homo, and into patterns of growth and aging Margvelashvili et al. 2013;Zollikofer et al. 2014). The craniomandibular morphology of the Dmanisi paleodeme has been described previously (Gabunia and Vekua 1995;Gabunia et al. 2000;Gabunia et al. 2001;Gabounia et al. 2002;Lordkipanidze et al. 2005;Lordkipanidze et al. 2006;Rightmire et al. 2006;Rightmire and Lordkipanidze 2010;Lordkipanidze et al. 2013;Margvelashvili et al. 2013). Cranial and mandibular morphological variation within the Dmanisi paleodeme is wide, but well within the range of variation seen in modern humans populations, and in populations of chimpanzee subspecies (Skinner et al. 2006;Lordkipanidze et al. 2013;Margvelashvili et al. 2013;Zollikofer et al. 2014). Variation in size, shape and dentognathic features among the Dmanisi mandibles has received special attention and has been studied to address questions of phylogeny, taxonomy, sexual dimorphism, die...

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“…At Paglicci, the presence of deciduous Quercus is testified by the recovery of charcoal (11). In the Mediterranean basin, acorn consumption was indicated in Morocco, between 15,000 and 13,700 cal B.P (20); acorn flour has been recorded in Qingshui River valley, China, since the beginning of the Holocene, when broadleaf trees began to spread in that region (21). Therefore, the Paglicci record could represent the most ancient documented use of acorns after processing, marking the beginning of a very long tradition that has not yet completely died out in the Mediterranean basin and in Italy, surviving in the production of bread for village festivities (22).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multistep food plant processing at Grotta Paglicci (Southern Italy) around 32,600 cal B.P.

Lippi

Foggi

Aranguren³

et al. 2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Residue analyses on a grinding tool recovered at Grotta Paglicci sublayer 23A [32,614 ± 429 calibrated (cal) B.P.], Southern Italy, have demonstrated that early modern humans collected and processed various plants. The recording of starch grains attributable to Avena (oat) caryopses expands our information about the food plants used for producing flour in Europe during the Paleolithic and about the origins of a food tradition persisting up to the present in the Mediterranean basin. The quantitative distribution of the starch grains on the surface of the grinding stone furnished information about the tool handling, confirming its use as a pestlegrinder, as suggested by the wear-trace analysis. The particular state of preservation of the starch grains suggests the use of a thermal treatment before grinding, possibly to accelerate drying of the plants, making the following process easier and faster. The study clearly indicates that the exploitation of plant resources was very important for hunter-gatherer populations, to the point that the Early Gravettian inhabitants of Paglicci were able to process food plants and already possessed a wealth of knowledge that was to become widespread after the dawn of agriculture.starch grains | Avena | pestle-grinder | flour | Early Gravettian

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Earliest evidence for caries and exploitation of starchy plant foods in Pleistocene hunter-gatherers from Morocco

Cited by 134 publications

References 35 publications

Reproductive trade-offs in extant hunter-gatherers suggest adaptive mechanism for the Neolithic expansion

Reproductive trade-offs in extant hunter-gatherers suggest adaptive mechanism for the Neolithic expansion

Comparative analysis of dentognathic pathologies in the Dmanisi mandibles

Multistep food plant processing at Grotta Paglicci (Southern Italy) around 32,600 cal B.P.

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