Phytolith analysis on dental calculus, enamel surface, and burial soil: Information about diet and paleoenvironment

Abstract

Silica phytoliths (microscopic remains originating in plant tissues) have been identified on the enamel surface and dental calculus of a sample of teeth selected from well preserved skeletons from a Late Roman necropolis in Tarragona (Spain). Phytoliths were observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and their siliceous nature was confirmed by X-ray microanalysis. The phytoliths were compared to those of soil samples from both the areas of the tombs corresponding to the abdomen and the periphery of the skeletons, and were classified taxonomically by comparison with a large collection of silica particles from modern plants in the Mediterranean area. Most of the phytoliths identified on the enamel and the dental calculus belong to the family of Poaceae, while the phytoliths from the abdominal area belong to Poaceae, Leguminosae, Cyperaceae, and Chenopodiaceae. Results are concordant with archaeological, ecological, and historical data from the same site, and with the human Mediterranean diet. If done properly, the study of phytoliths can provide direct information about the vegetable diet of past human populations, and could be applied to the study of human fossils.

Simulation of dental microwear: Characteristic traces by opal phytoliths give clues to ancient human dietary behavior

“…The identification of at least one opal phytolith on every archaeological tooth inspected was surprising for two reasons: first, the occurrence of opal phytoliths on human dental enamel was previously described by two other investigations only (Lalueza Fox and Pérez-Pérez, 1994;Lalueza Fox et al, 1996b), and there are again only two other reports of opal phytoliths present in human dental calculus (Middleton, 1993;Holt, 1993). Normally, most of these particles should be lost in the course of the mastication process.…”

“…Variations in size are also known to occur in the course of the domestication process. For these reasons, and also because of their resistance to decomposition, investigation of opal phytoliths among archaeological plant remains (Piperno, 1988), and also on dental enamel of archaeological skeletons (Lalueza Fox et al, 1996b;Lalueza Fox and Pérez-Pérez, 1994), is a valuable tool for the reconstruction of both paleoenvironments and paleodiet.…”

A new era in palaeomicrobiology: prospects for ancient dental calculus as a long-term record of the human oral microbiome

“…Pioneering work by Dobney & Brothwell [40,43] revealed a great diversity of well-preserved microbial and dietary microfossils within the archaeological dental calculus of both humans and fauna. Building on this and other foundational work by Armitage [41], the early 1990s witnessed a dramatic growth in plant microfossil research focusing primarily on phytolith recovery from extinct primate [96], faunal [94,97] and human [44,94,98] dental calculus. In parallel, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of human [37,93,94,99,100], archaic hominin [93,101,102] and extinct primate dental calculus [103] revealed the presence of wellpreserved bacterial forms within dental calculus spanning time periods dating back to the Miocene (ca 9.3 Ma).…”

Functions of phytoliths in vascular plants: an evolutionary perspective

“…Furthermore, phytoliths lodged in the surface of modern and (sub)fossil human and ape teeth – often at the end of scratch marks – demonstrated that phytoliths can at least deform enamel (e.g. Ciochon, Piperno & Thompson ; Fox, Juan & Albert ; Gügel, Grupe & Kunzelmann ). Lately, however, the relative hardness of phytoliths and enamel has become the subject of intense debate.…”