The Baka Pygmies are known for their short stature resulting from a reduced growth rate during infancy. They are peculiar also for their teeth erupt earlier than in any other African population, and their posterior dentition is larger than in non-Pygmy populations. However, the Baka’s dental morphology, like several other aspects of their biology, is still understudied. Here, we explore the variation of the Baka’s deciduous upper and lower second molars (dm2s) in comparison to a geographically heterogeneous human sample by means of 3D geometric morphometrics and analysis of dental traits. Our results show that the different populations largely overlap based on the shape of their dm2s, especially the lower ones. Their distal region and the height of the dentinal crown differ the most, with the Baka showing the most extreme range of variation. Upper and lower dm2s covary to a great extent (RV = 0.82). The Baka’s and South Americans’ dm2s were confirmed among the largest in our sample. Despite the Baka’s unique growth pattern, long-lasting isolation, and extreme dental variation, it is not possible to distinguish them from other populations based on their dm2s’ morphology only.

Internal and external bony tissues from diverse mammalian taxa are one of the primary animal raw materials exploited for technical and symbolic purposes by Eurasian Upper Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers. Identifying the source species used for osseous raw material is critical to gain insights into these populations' behaviour, technology, and subsistence. The study of osseous tools has advanced in the last few years by combining archaeological and biomolecular methods. Ancient genomics opens many new analytical opportunities. Ancient DNA (aDNA) can provide a wealth of information about the animal sources of these objects. Unfortunately, aDNA analyses often involve destructive sampling. Here, we develop and apply a minimally-invasive aDNA sampling method for an assemblage of 42 prehistoric hunting weapons and tools from various Eurasian archaeological sites. We evaluated the impact of our approach on the specimens visually, microscopically and through Micro-CT scans. The surface impacts are marginal, ranging from 0.3-0.4 mm. Using a custom-made DNA capture kit for 54 mammalian species, we obtained sufficient aDNA to identify the taxa of 33% of the objects. For one of the tools, we recovered enough endogenous aDNA to infer the genetic affinities of the individual. Our results also demonstrate that ancient antler, one of the primary raw materials used during a large part of prehistory, is a reliable source of aDNA. Our minimally-invasive aDNA sampling method is therefore effective while preserving osseous objects for potential further analyses: morphometric, technical, genetic, radiometric and more.

The Baka pygmies are known for their short stature resulting from a reduced growth rate during infancy. They are peculiar also for their teeth erupt earlier than in any other African population, and their posterior dentition is larger than in non-pygmies. However, the Baka’s dental morphology, as several other aspects of their biology, is still understudied. In this study we explore the Baka’s upper and lower second deciduous molars variation in comparison to a human sample including Africans, Asians, Europeans, and South Americans by means of 3D geometric morphometrics. We analyzed both the outer and inner aspect of the dental crowns, as well as their general size based on the natural logarithm of centroid sizes. Our results show largely overlapping morphologies between populations, especially for the lower molars. The distal region of the second molars is the most variable, with the Baka’s lower second molars showing the most extreme range of variation for this aspect and in terms of crown height. Upper and lower second molars showed high morphological covariation (RV=0.82). The Baka and South Americans’ second molars were confirmed among the largest in our sample. Despite of the Baka’s particular growth pattern, long-lasting isolation and extreme dental variation, it is not possible to distinguish them from other populations on the basis of their second molar morphology only.

The Baka Pygmies are known for their short stature resulting from a reduced growth rate during infancy. They are peculiar also for their teeth erupt earlier than in any other African population, and their posterior dentition is larger than in non-Pygmy populations. However, the Baka’s dental morphology, like several other aspects of their biology, is still understudied. Here, we explore the variation of the Baka’s deciduous upper and lower second molars (dm2s) in comparison to a geographically heterogeneous human sample by means of 3D geometric morphometrics and analysis of dental traits. Our results show that the different populations largely overlap based on the shape of their dm2s, especially the lower ones. Their distal region and the height of the dentinal crown differ the most, with the Baka showing the most extreme range of variation. Upper and lower dm2s covary to a great extent (RV=0.82). The Baka’s and South Americans’ dm2s were confirmed among the largest in our sample. Despite the Baka’s unique growth pattern, long-lasting isolation, and extreme dental variation, it is not possible to distinguish them from other populations based on their dm2s’ morphology only.