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 hunter-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 of hunter-gatherers (N = 298) and five groups of early agriculturalists (N = 365). Hunter-gather- ers 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 hunter-gatherers by about 10" 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. Tooth wear is one skeletal feature that pre- serves direct evidence of the masticatory be- havior of mammals. Mastication is inti- mately related to diet, and patterns of tooth wear can be used to make inferences about diet in prehistoric populations and extinct

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Patterns of molar wear in hunter–gatherers and agriculturalists

The premise that bones grow and remodel throughout life to adapt to their mechanical environment is often called Wolff's law. Wolff's law, however, is not always true, and in fact comprises a variety of different processes that are best considered separately. Here we review the molecular and physiological mechanisms by which bone senses, transduces, and responds to mechanical loads, and the effects of aging processes on the relationship (if any) between cortical bone form and mechanical function. Experimental and comparative evidence suggests that cortical bone is primarily responsive to strain prior to sexual maturity, both in terms of the rate of new bone growth (modeling) as well as rates of turnover (Haversian remodeling). Rates of modeling and Haversian remodeling, however, vary greatly at different skeletal sites. In addition, there is no simple relationship between the orientation of loads in long bone diaphyses and their cross-sectional geometry. In combination, these data caution against assuming without testing adaptationist views about form-function relationships in order to infer adult activity patterns from skeletal features such as cross-sectional geometry, cortical bones density, and musculo-skeletal stress markers. Efforts to infer function from shape in the human skeleton should be based on biomechanical and developmental models that are experimentally tested and validated.

/pdf/the-aging-of-wolff-s-law-ontogeny-and-responses-to-25ufbu7nqc.pdf

The Aging of Wolff’s “Law”: Ontogeny and Responses to Mechanical Loading in Cortical Bone

Agriculture has long been regarded as an improvement in the human condition: Once Homo sapiens made the transition from foraging to farming in the Neolithic, health and nutrition improved, longevity increased, and work load declined. Recent study of archaeological human remains worldwide by biological anthropologists has shown this characterization of the shift from hunting and gathering to agriculture to be incorrect. Contrary to earlier models, the adoption of agriculture involved an overall decline in oral and general health. This decline is indicated by elevated prevalence of various skeletal and dental pathological conditions and alterations in skeletal and dental growth patterns in prehistoric farmers compared with foragers. In addition, changes in food composition and preparation technology contributed to craniofacial and dental alterations, and activity levels and mobility decline resulted in a general decrease in skeletal robusticity. These findings indicate that the shift from food collection to...

Biological changes in human populations with agriculture

https://www.dentalage.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/cunha_e_et_al_2009_aging-human-remains-a-review.pdf

The problem of aging human remains and living individuals: a review.

Variation in modern human enamel formation times.

Stable Isotope Analysis Reveals Variations in Human Diet at the Poundbury Camp Cemetery Site

Stable isotope palaeodietary study of humans and fauna from the multi-period (Iron Age, Viking and Late Medieval) site of Newark Bay, Orkney

Some Sexually Dimorphic Features of the Human Juvenile Skull and their Value in Sex Determination in Immature Skeletal Remains

The uptake of elements by bone during fossilization is a well-recognized phenomenon but the nature of, and the factors leading to, chemical heterogeneity in fossil bone are only just starting to be elucidated. Indeed, in the recent past the assumption that fossil bone is chemically homogeneous has been commonly used in several investigations including those of bone dating and dietary studies. In an attempt to understand the processes of element uptake we have investigated some chemical heterogeneities in a fossil bone and have assessed the potential use of bone composition as an indicator of the trace element contents of associated groundwater. Our study extends other work1,2 by giving the first analysis of rare earth element (REE) distribution in a fossil bone and by showing that information on the redox state and REE abundance pattern of the groundwater can be obtained. The results contribute to the interpretation of bone analyses in studies on provenance and age determination as well as in the diet and health of past populations.

Theya Molleson

Papers

Stable Isotope Analysis Reveals Variations in Human Diet at the Poundbury Camp Cemetery Site

Stable isotope palaeodietary study of humans and fauna from the multi-period (Iron Age, Viking and Late Medieval) site of Newark Bay, Orkney

Some Sexually Dimorphic Features of the Human Juvenile Skull and their Value in Sex Determination in Immature Skeletal Remains

Patterns of chemical change during bone fossilization

Catalogue of fossil hominids