Dental biology/ anthropology

Abstract

Dental remains are often found at fossil, archaeological, and forensic sites, as they are small and hard and therefore resist damage. Two of the hard tissues of teeth, enamel and dentine, preserve incremental growth markings that reflect circadian (short‐period) and infradian (long‐period) rhythms. These markings provide paleoanthropologists, bioarchaeologists, and forensic anthropologists with a wealth of information about growth and development. They also allow precise estimates of age at death in the remains of individuals who died when their teeth were still forming. Understanding the formation and basic biology of enamel and dentine is the key to unlocking this anthropological information from teeth.