Bioarchaeological studies have found that, in general, the adoption of agriculture is associated with deteriorating oral health, most frequently manifested as an increase in the prevalence of dental caries. However, compared to other regions of the world, bioarchaeological studies focusing on prehistoric Europe have produced more variable results, with different populations experiencing deteriorations, improvements, and stasis in oral health. This study assesses the oral health of individuals of the Tripolye culture buried in Verteba Cave, Ukraine, within the context of the transition to agriculture in Eastern Europe. We compare the rates of dental caries between Tripolye farmers with earlier hunter-fisher-gatherers from Ukraine. The Tripolye were found to have carious lesions on 9.5 per cent of teeth, while the hunter-fisher-gatherers were found to be universally free of carious lesions. A Fisher's exact test demonstrates that this difference is statistically significant, supporting the model that the transition to agriculture was detrimental to oral health in prehistoric Ukraine. This could be related to the manner in which grain was processed by the Tripolye and the needs of their relatively population-dense society.

The Tripolye were the first archaeo-logical culture in Ukraine to cultivate domesticat-ed cereals, practice animal husbandry, and establish large settlements with high population densities. This cultural adaptation was much different than that of mobile hunter-fisher-gatherers of the Ukrainian Mesolithic/Neolithic, and likely resulted in different outcomes for human health. This study compares the rates of enamel hypoplasias in a Tripolye skeletal population with that of Mesolithic/Neolithic hunter-fisher-gatherers. A recently excavated sample of dentitions representing a minimum of 35 individuals from Verteba Cave was examined macroscopically for hypoplasias and was compared statistically to published rates for hunter-fisher-gatherers. The Tripolye from Verteba Cave were found to have at least one enamel hypoplasia on 18.18% of teeth, while the hunter-fisher-gatherers have hypoplastic lesions on 1.88% of teeth. When examined at the individual level, 48.57% of the Tripolye were found to have at least one hypoplasia, as compared to 12.77% of the hunter-fisher-gatherer individuals. The results indicate that the agropastoral Tripolye experienced significantly more systemic stress than the hunter-fisher-gatherers. The higher stress likely relates to dietary and behavioral variables associated with the Tripolye’s agropastoral economy, including heavy reliance on cereals as weaning foods and sanitary problems linked to sedentism.

The set of geophysical methods employed above ground and inside Verteba Cave Eneolithic Trypillian Culture Site (Ukraine) includes magnetic survey, electrical resistivity tomography (ERT), and ground‐penetrating radar (GPR). The above‐ground geophysical study was aimed at the recognition of lateral and vertical distribution of sulfate karst landforms and archaeological targets. In‐cave measurements were made to prospect archaeological remains in loose infill and unknown voids. The round and oval‐shaped magnetic anomalies with dimensions of 10–25 m and maximum intensity of 15–20 nT are caused by old refilled collapse dolines that were discovered over the cave. The magnetic survey proved the absence of Trypillian culture houses on the surface and the presence of buried archaeological objects in the cave. 2D ERT imaging revealed the vertical structure of karstic collapse dolines, the thickness of the sedimentary layer over gypsum, as well as loamy cave infill. ERT was capable of detecting the void in gypsum by resistivity enhancement up to several thousand ohm‐meters. The underground GPR survey of cave walls provided information about possible vertical air−gypsum and loam−gypsum interfaces within the gypsum layer. The prospective areas for future archaeological excavations and the possible location of undiscovered cavities were outlined on the basis of geophysical results.

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