Dental evolution in prehistoric Native Americans of the Ohio valley area. I. Wear and pathology

✍ Scribed by Paul W. Sciulli

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1997
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 295 KB
• Volume: 7
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1047-482X
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1099-1212(199709/10)7:5<507::aid-oa371>3.0.co;2-h

✦ Synopsis

Temporal patterns of tooth wear rates (loss of crown height) and dental pathologies (caries, abscess, and tooth loss) are estimated for 40 Native American populations of the upper Ohio River valley area ranging in time from the Late Archaic (ca. 3500 years BP) to Protohistoric times (ca. 350 years BP).

Within this time span three `dental cultural ecological environments' are recognized: high rates of wear, low frequencies of pathology (Late Archaic), low rates of wear, low frequencies of pathologies (Woodland, ca. 2500±1000 years BP), and low rates of wear and high frequencies of pathologies (Late Prehistoric, ca. post-1000 years BP).

Phenotypic selection acting to maintain tooth size is associated with pre-ceramic, hunter± ®sher±gatherers in the ®rst dental environment. The introduction and development of ceramics at the end of the Late Archaic is associated with signi®cant reduction in tooth wear rates and reduction in size of maxillary teeth, most likely due to selection. From at least the Middle Woodland period (ca. 2000 years BP) to the end of the time sequence considered, tooth size in Ohio Valley Native Americans was stable, with minor ¯uctuations due to genetic drift. At present there is no evidence that major changes in diet at the beginning of the Late Prehistoric period affected tooth size, even though the frequencies of dental pathologies increased dramatically.