Beyond food: The multiple pathways for inclusion of materials into ancient dental calculus

Abstract

Dental calculus (mineralized dental plaque) was first recognised as a potentially useful archaeological deposit in the 1970s, though interest in human dental calculus as a resource material has increased sharply in the past few years. The majority of recent research has focused on the retrieval of plant microfossils embedded in its matrix and interpretation of these finds as largely the result of deliberate consumption of plant-derived food. However, while most of the material described in published works does represent food, dental calculus is in fact a "depositional environment" as material can enter the mouth from a range of sources. In this respect, it therefore represents an archaeological deposit that can also contain extensive non-dietary debris. This can comprise a wide variety of cultural and environmental material which reaches the mouth and can become embedded in dental calculus through alternative pathways. Here, we explore the human behaviors and activities besides eating that can generate a flux of particles into the human mouth, the broad range of additional cultural and environmental information that can be obtained through the analysis and contextualisation of this material, and the implications of the additional pathways by which material can become embedded in dental calculus.

Archaeological Starch

“…Items found in dental calculus represent an unknown but tiny, random amount of material that entered the mouth in one of various ways, including ingestion in food, as medication, residues from cultural activities or through breathing [84]. In the case of starchy food, each item eaten will contain billions of starch granules.…”

Pleistocene dental calculus: Recovering information on Paleolithic food items, medicines, paleoenvironment and microbes

“…In all cases, these are considered to represent traces of the paleoenvironment, except in the case of Power et al who suggested that the presence of fungal spores represented consumption of identifiable mushrooms . However, food comes from the fruiting body of fungi rather than the spores, which, as small, abundant, inhalable airborne materials, are more likely to be paleoenvironmental indicators . Though fungal spores can be abundant in dental calculus, their close study has yet to be developed, principally due to the very large number of fungal species and limited reference collections.…”

“…Therefore, access to new, direct evidence for ingestion of plant food and evidence for cooking in the Middle Paleolithic were understandably met with optimism. However, items can enter the mouth and become embedded in dental calculus in many ways in addition to food, including as medication, remains of cultural activities and through breathing . Recovered material therefore represents a wide range of dietary, paleoenvironmental and cultural activities that can only be considered on a qualitative (i.e., presence/absence) basis.…”

Jak současná paleogenetika přispívá ke změně našeho chápání vzniku, vývoje a migrací moderních lidských skupin

“…Jeden z důležitých výzkumů využívajících paleogenetiky i genetiky současných populací je studie genetické adaptace anatomicky moderního člověka na tepelně upravovanou potravu (Zink, Lieberman 2016, Radini et al 2017, která prokazuje, že mechanicky a tepelně upravovaná potrava je pro člo-věka výhodnější z hlediska efektivity trávení. To například prokazují srovnávací genetickou analýzou enzymatického aparátu trávení.…”