Gross Dental Wear and Dental Microwear in Historical Perspective

Tooth wear records valuable information on diet and methods of food preparation in prehistoric populations or extinct species. In this study, samples of modern and prehistoric hunger-gatherers and agriculturalists are used to test the hypothesis that there are systematic differences in patterns of tooth wear related to major differences in subsistence and food preparation. Flatness of molar wear is compared for five groups in hunger-gatherers (N = 298) and five groups of early agriculturalists (N = 365). Hunger-gatherers are predicted to develop flatter molar wear due to the mastication of tough and fibrous foods, whereas agriculturalists should develop oblique molar wear due to an increase in the proportion of ground and prepared food in the diet. A method is presented for the quantitative measurement and analysis of flatness of molar wear. Comparisons of wear plane angle are made between teeth matched for the same stage of occlusal surface wear, thus standardizing all groups to the same rate of wear. Agriculturalists develop highly angled occlusal wear planes on the entire molar dentition. Their wear plane angles tend to exceed hunger-gatherers by about 10 degrees in advanced wear. Wear plane angles are similar within subsistence divisions despite regional differences in particular foods. This approach can be used to provide supporting evidence of change in human subsistence and to test dietary hypotheses in hominoid evolution.

Modal patterns of occlusal attrition are presented for the Libben population based on a sample of 332 adult dentitions. Maxillas and mandibles were reviewed independently by seriation prior to assessment of complete dentitions. The Spearman rank order coefficient for upper and lower dentitions was .96. Wear patterns are very similar to those reported by Murphy (1959a: Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 17:167-178) for Australian aborigines. There were no significant sexual differences in wear rate. Dental wear is concluded to be a highly reliable and important indicator of adult age at death for skeletal populations if seriation procedures are employed.