Tooth mutilation in the Caribbean: Evidence from a slave burial population in barbados

Handler, Jerome S.; Corruccini, Robert S.; Mutaw, Robert J.

doi:10.1016/s0047-2484(82)80021-3

Cited by 38 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…With regard to the former, culturally prescribed dental modifications-in particular, grooves and notches-have been observed in teeth from the New World in prehistoric contexts momero, 1958, 1970; Saville, 1913;Campbell, 1944;Stewart and Titterington, 1944;Holder and Stewart, 1958;Stewart, 1973;Willey and Ubelaker, 1976;Milner, 1984b) and in individuals representative of African descent (Stewart, 1939(Stewart, , 1949Stewart and Groome, 1968;Ortner, 1966;Handler et al, 1982). These are not to be confused with abrasions on teeth that arise unintentionally, such as those described for approximal surfaces (Ubelaker et al, 1969;Berryman et al, 1979;Wal- lace, 1974) and occlusal surfaces (Pedersen, 1952;Turner, 1967;Cybulski, 1974;Schulz, 1977;Larsen and Thomas, 1982;Blakely and Beck, 1984).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dental modifications and tool use in the western Great Basin

Larsen

1985

American J Phys Anthropol

106

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Nondietary function is an important concern in the study of the human dentition and its role in adaptation. The purpose of the present investigation is to describe and interpret a pattern of dental wear in the anterior dentition of precontact hunter-gatherers that inhabited the western Great Basin. These data are discussed in light of ethnographic documentation as a means by which the archaeological record is linked with associated behavior of the representative populations. A series of 171 dentitions from a group of archaeological localities was examined. Of 1,931 teeth observed, 16 of these showed narrow (0.4-2.0 mm) transverse grooves located on the midocclusal surfaces of anterior teeth. The grooves were restricted in occurrence to five older adult males. Documentation of prehistoric and historic western Great Basin aboriginal populations indicates an adaptation that involves use of plant materials in the production of a variety of utilitarian objects, such as fish nets, basketry, funerary bags, fowling bags, and rope. In postcontact contexts, the anterior dentition has been shown to play an important role in the preparation of materials used for the production of this equipment. It seems most likely, then, that the grooves observed herein resulted directly from the use of the dentition as part of the tool assemblage for the production of other tools.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dental modifications and tool use in the western Great Basin

Larsen

1985

American J Phys Anthropol

106

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“…Age determination, demography, and dental health have been described elsewhere (Corruccini and Handler, 1980;Corruccini et al, 1982Corruccini et al, ,1985Corruccini et al, , 1987aCorruccini et al, ,b, 1989Handler et al, 1982Corruccini, 1983,1986).…”

Section: Description Materials and Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Congenital syphilis in the past: Slaves at Newton Plantation, Barbados, West Indies

Jacobi

Cook

Corruccini

et al. 1992

American J Phys Anthropol

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Hutchinson's incisors and Moon's molars are specific lesions of congenital syphilis. The extensive but fragmentary clinical literature on these conditions describes reduced dimensions and thin enamel in the permanent incisors and first molars, crowding and infolding of the first molar cusps, notching of the upper incisors, and apical hypoplasias of the permanent canines. A Barbados slave cemetery (ca. 1660-1820 AD) includes three individuals with these features, suggesting a frequency at birth of congenital syphilis in the population approaching 10%. These three cases show triple the frequency of all hypoplasias and more than seven times the frequency of pitting hypoplasia present in the remainder of the series. The recognizable congenital syphilis cases account for much of the remarkably high frequency of hypoplasias in the series as a whole. We infer that syphilis contributed substantially to morbidity, infant mortality, and infertility in this population. Presence or absence of congenital syphilis may account for much of the variability in health and mortality seen among nineteenth century African-American populations.

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“…In the classification of the modifications, we followed the typology established by Romero Molina (1958), after the specifications set forth by Dembo and Imbelloni (1938) and by Handler, Corruccini, and Mutaw (1982). Some of the altered teeth were examined using scanning electron microscopy (Ramírez Salomó n et al 2003;Tiesler and Oliva 2010).…”

Section: Bioarchaeology Of the Burial Populationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Isotopic Studies of Human Skeletal Remains from a Sixteenth to Seventeenth Century AD Churchyard in Campeche, Mexico

Price¹,

Burton²,

Cucina³

et al. 2012

Current Anthropology

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In AD 2000, construction activities in the central plaza of the city of Campeche, Mexico, led to the discovery of an early colonial church and an associated burial ground dating from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries AD. During the subsequent rescue excavations, the remains of at least 180 individuals were unearthed from the churchyard. We have concluded a series of isotopic studies of these remains to obtain information on diet, status, place of origin, and date of burial. This work involves the application of both light and heavy isotope analyses to both tooth enamel and human bone. Carbon and oxygen isotope ratios were measured in tooth enamel and bone. Carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios were measured on bone collagen. Strontium and lead isotopes were measured in tooth enamel, and the ratios were compared to a large database for the Maya region. Radiocarbon dates were obtained for 10 of the skeletons to evaluate the date of burial and the period of use of the cemetery. The results of our study, interpreted jointly with mortuary information and conventional skeletal examination, provide detailed information on the overall burial population, a sort of collective life history of the deceased individuals. In the context of the historical background, new insights on living conditions, mobility, and diet of the founding generations in the colonial New World are obtained. A new and direct appreciation on life and death in an early multiethnic colonial Spanish town, including its historically invisible sectors-children, women, servants, and slaves-becomes possible.In the study described here, we examine the isotopic composition of bone and tooth enamel from a number of the individuals buried in an early colonial cemetery in the modern city of Campeche, on the west coast of the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico. We are interested in questions about diet, status, place of birth, and date of burial. We employ isotopes of carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, lead, and strontium in this study. Carbon isotopes in bone collagen, bone mineral, and tooth mineral have been measured in some of the skeletal remains. We have also measured radiocarbon isotopes in bone collagen for age determinations. Oxygen isotopes have been measured in bone mineral and tooth enamel. Nitrogen isotopes have been measured in bone collagen. Strontium and lead isotope ratios have been assayed in tooth enamel and strontium isotopes in bone mineral. Lead isotope ratios have been measured in a few enamel samples. The isotopic results are examined in light of the contextual evidence of discovery and the biological and biocultural information provided by the analyses of the human remains.The first sections of this article provide some historical background on the early town of Campeche and the early church that was the focus of religious ceremony and sacred burial. A description of the excavations provides the archaeological and taphonomic context of the human burials in the Campeche plaza cemetery. These and conventional bioarchaeological studies provide the basic a...

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Tooth mutilation in the Caribbean: Evidence from a slave burial population in barbados

Cited by 38 publications

References 11 publications

Dental modifications and tool use in the western Great Basin

Dental modifications and tool use in the western Great Basin

Congenital syphilis in the past: Slaves at Newton Plantation, Barbados, West Indies

Isotopic Studies of Human Skeletal Remains from a Sixteenth to Seventeenth Century AD Churchyard in Campeche, Mexico

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