Non-occlusal dental microwear variability in a sample of Middle and Late Pleistocene human populations from Europe and the Near East

Pérez‐Pérez, Alejandro; Espurz, Vanesa; Castro, José Marı́a Bermúdez de; Lumley, M.-A. De; Turbón, Daniel

doi:10.1016/s0047-2484(03)00030-7

Cited by 104 publications

(89 citation statements)

References 54 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…In this context, independent evidence supports the contention that the farmers' diet consists of softer food, and can be found independently in dental microwear analyses and molecular genetics studies of crop plants. Differences in food availability, stone tool technology, and food-processing techniques seem to be responsible for a decrease in microwear through time (Pérez-Pérez et al, 2003). Microwear features tend to be more abundant in groups whose diet was abrasive than those who ate soft foods (Romero et al, 2004).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Functional‐cranial approach to the influence of economic strategy on skull morphology

González‐José

Ramírez‐Rozzi

Sardi

et al. 2005

American J Phys Anthropol

100

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Environmental factors are assumed to play an important role in the shaping of craniofacial morphology. Here we propose a statistical approach which can be of utility in estimating the magnitude and localization of a particular nongenetic factor upon the specific functional components of the skull. Our analysis is a combination of previous attempts of apportionment of variance and the application of craniofunctional theory. The effect of subsistence strategy on craniofacial functional components was studied on 18 populations of hunter-gatherers and farmers from South America. Results demonstrate that the environmental factors studied likely influenced the masticatory component's size and shape. Even when this effect is not large enough to clearly differentiate among subsistence strategies (since whole craniofacial variation among populations remains greater), the method used here provides interesting clues to localize plastic or adaptive responses to external stimuli.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Functional‐cranial approach to the influence of economic strategy on skull morphology

González‐José

Ramírez‐Rozzi

Sardi

et al. 2005

American J Phys Anthropol

100

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The analysis of the occlusal surface has been estab lished to 500x, and usually only the protoconid is analyzed (Teaford, 1991;Romero and de juan, 2005;Mahoney, 2006). However, the analysis of buccal surfaces has generally been performed at 100x (Fine and Craig, 1981;Lalueza Fox, 1996;Perez Perez et al, 2003). This protocol cannot be applied to the non dietary microwear features because their morphology, disposition, and size require examination of a wider field of view.…”

Section: Polished Enamelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Non-masticatory uses of anterior teeth of Sima de los Huesos individuals (Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain)

Ruiz

Castro

Carbonell

et al. 2008

Journal of Human Evolution

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Keywords:Cultural wear features Anterior dentition Para masticatory activities Middle PleistoceneIn this study we examine the labial and occlusal surfaces of incisors and canines of hominins recovered from the Sima de los Huesos (SH), middle Pleistocene site, in order to establish the possible extra masticatory use of anterior teeth. We have compared the microwear of these fossils with microwear from the anterior teeth of Australian Aborigines, a population characterized by ethnographic evidence of the use of their teeth as a third hand. These two samples of teeth were microscopically analyzed using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Our results support the "cultural" origin of microwear observed on fossil teeth: we conclude that the SH ho minins used their anterior teeth as a "third hand" for para-or extra-masticatory activities.

show abstract

“…In addition, different microwear patterns on buccal and occlusal enamel surfaces might result from the same diet. Buccal microwear patterns, not affected by tooth-tooth contact, have been shown to be a good indicator of dietary-related abrasion in primates, as well as in hominins [Pérez-Pérez et al, 1999;Galbany et al, 2002;Pérez-Pérez et al, 2003;Galbany and Pérez-Pérez, 2004], although further methodological standardizations are still required.…”

Section: Dietary Habits Of the Fossil Specimensmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dental Microwear Variability on Buccal Tooth Enamel Surfaces of Extant Catarrhini and the Miocene Fossil Dryopithecus laietanus (Hominoidea)

Galbany

Moyà‐Solà²,

Pérez‐Pérez³

2006

IJFP

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Analyses of buccal tooth microwear have been used to trace dietary habits of modern hunter-gatherer populations. In these populations, the average den-sity and length of striations on the buccal surfaces of teeth are significantly cor-related with the abrasive potential of food items consumed. In non-human pri-mates, tooth microwear patterns on both occlusal and buccal wear facets have been thoroughly studied and the results applied to the characterization of dietary habits of fossil species. In this paper, we present inter- and intra-specific buccal microwear variability analyses in extant Cercopithecoidea (Cercopithecus mitis, C. neglectus, Chlorocebus aethiops, Colobus spp., Papio anubis) and Hominoidea (Gorilla gorilla, Pan troglodytes, Pongo pygmaeus). The results are tentatively compared to buccal microwear patterns of the Miocene fossils Dryopithecus and Oreopithecus. Significant differences in striation density and length are found among the fossil taxa studied and the extant primates, sug-gesting that buccal microwear can be used to identify dietary differences among taxa. The Dryopithecus buccal microwear pattern most closely resembles that of abrasive, tough plant foods consumers, such as the gorilla, in contrast to stud-ies of dental morphology that suggest a softer, frugivorous diet. Results for Ore-opithecus were equivocal, but suggest a more abrasive diet than that previously thought.

show abstract

Non-occlusal dental microwear variability in a sample of Middle and Late Pleistocene human populations from Europe and the Near East

Cited by 104 publications

References 54 publications

Functional‐cranial approach to the influence of economic strategy on skull morphology

Functional‐cranial approach to the influence of economic strategy on skull morphology

Non-masticatory uses of anterior teeth of Sima de los Huesos individuals (Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain)

Dental Microwear Variability on Buccal Tooth Enamel Surfaces of Extant Catarrhini and the Miocene Fossil Dryopithecus laietanus (Hominoidea)

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About