Dental Caries in the Qafzeh 3 Middle Paleolithic Modern Human

Trinkaus, Erik; Pinilla, Beatriz

doi:10.3406/paleo.2009.5278

Cited by 15 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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Section: Abstract: Aging Tooth Wear Caries Periodontitismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recently a case of malocclusion (cross-bite) has been reported in the Qafzeh 9 individual (dated to 94-115 ka), with additional midline deviation and incisor rotations (Sarig et al 2013). Caries has been reported in Skhul 2, and in Qafzeh specimens 3, H4, 4, 7, 9, and 11 (Tillier et al 1995;Trinkaus and Pinilla 2009;Lacy 2014a have not yet been published in detail, it is worth mentioning that studying dentognathic data in terms of broad taxonomic, geographic and temporal groups reveals significant large-scale patterns. Most importantly, it appears that the oral health conditions of the Neanderthals were compromised compared to Early Upper Paleolithic modern humans, but that during the Last Glacial Maximum the oral health status of the latter group declined as an effect of harsher environmental conditions (Lacy 2014a).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Comparative analysis of dentognathic pathologies in the Dmanisi mandibles

Margvelashvili

Zollikofer

Lordkipanidze

et al. 2016

American J Phys Anthropol

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Objectives: Due to the scarcity of the fossil record, in-vivo changes in the dentognathic system of early Homo are typically documented at the level of individual fossil specimens, and it remains difficult to draw population-level inferences about dietary habits, diet-related activities and lifestyle from individual patterns of dentognathic alterations. The Plio-Pleistocene hominin sample from Dmanisi (Georgia), dated to 1.77 million years ago, offers a unique opportunity to study in-vivo changes in the dentognathic system of individuals belonging to a single paleodeme of early Homo. Materials and Methods: We analyze dentognathic pathologies in the Dmanisi sample, and in comparative samples of modern Australian and Greenlander hunter-gatherer populations, applying clinical protocols of dentognathic diagnostics. Results: The Dmanisi hominins exhibit a similarly wide diversity and similar incidence of dentognathic pathologies as the modern human hunter-gatherer population samples investigated here. Dmanisi differs from the modern population samples in several respects: At young age tooth wear is already advanced, and pathologies are more prevalent. At old age, hypercementosis is substantial. Discussion: Results indicate that dentognathic pathologies and disease trajectories are largely similar in early Homo and modern humans, but that the disease load was higher in early Homo, probably as an effect of higher overall stress on the dentognathic system. Key words: aging, tooth wear, caries, periodontitisThe Plio-Pleistocene site of Dmanisi has yielded a large sample of hominin fossils associated with abundant and diverse faunal remains and Mode I stone artifacts (Gabunia et al. 2001;Ferring et al. 2011;Mgeladze et al. 2011). Occupation of the site began shortly after 1.85 Ma. The fossil hominin finds are dated to 1.77 Ma (Ferring et al. 2011). Dmanisi thus represents the earliest evidence of Homo outside of Africa. The well-preserved cranial, mandibular and postcranial remains of five individuals are unique in offering detailed insights into patterns of morphological variation within a paleodeme of early Homo, and into patterns of growth and aging Margvelashvili et al. 2013;Zollikofer et al. 2014). The craniomandibular morphology of the Dmanisi paleodeme has been described previously (Gabunia and Vekua 1995;Gabunia et al. 2000;Gabunia et al. 2001;Gabounia et al. 2002;Lordkipanidze et al. 2005;Lordkipanidze et al. 2006;Rightmire et al. 2006;Rightmire and Lordkipanidze 2010;Lordkipanidze et al. 2013;Margvelashvili et al. 2013). Cranial and mandibular morphological variation within the Dmanisi paleodeme is wide, but well within the range of variation seen in modern humans populations, and in populations of chimpanzee subspecies (Skinner et al. 2006;Lordkipanidze et al. 2013;Margvelashvili et al. 2013;Zollikofer et al. 2014). Variation in size, shape and dentognathic features among the Dmanisi mandibles has received special attention and has been studied to address questions of phylogeny, taxonomy, sexual dimorphism, die...

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Section: Abstract: Aging Tooth Wear Caries Periodontitismentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparative analysis of dentognathic pathologies in the Dmanisi mandibles

Margvelashvili

Zollikofer

Lordkipanidze

et al. 2016

American J Phys Anthropol

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“…Caries is a common oral disease of humans since about 10,000 years, associated with the shift from hunter-gatherers to agriculturalists [ 4 , 47 , 62 , 63 ]. Until the Late Paleolithic, early modern humans rarely had caries [ 64 – 66 ]. Older caries lesions are documented in ~60ka old H .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Earliest evidence of caries lesion in hominids reveal sugar-rich diet for a Middle Miocene dryopithecine from Europe

2018

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The formation of dental caries is mainly caused by dietary habits and therefore, may contain information for dietary reconstructions of fossil hominids. This study investigates the caries lesion in the 12.5 Ma old type specimen of Dryopithecus carinthiacus Mottl 1957 (Primates, Hominidae) from St. Stefan (Austria). Potential food sources are identified on associated palynological data, which allow conclusions about food quality, sugar availability and the hominid metabolism during the Middle Miocene. Using micro computed tomography (μCT) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) we provide a detailed analysis and characterization of the individuals’ caries type. Its lesion is compared with a dataset of 311 wild chimpanzees, indicating morphological and etiological differences in caries formation between both species. The affected molar of D. carinthiacus reveals features known from severe dental caries in humans: (1) Cavitation with steep walls and smooth surface; (2) Reparative dentine at the roof of the pulp chamber; (3) Sclerotic dentine below the cavitation; (4) Association with dental calculus and (5) Unilateral usage of the healthy right tooth row. Its advanced primary caries, initiating on the intact enamel surface, indicates a frequent intake of highly cariogenic sugar-rich fruits, which likely exceeds the frugivory of extant chimpanzees. This finding corresponds with the associated palynological record, which infers a habitat with nearly year-round supply (9–10 months/year) of high quality foods (>carbohydrates; < fibers). Our conclusions challenge the model of a step-wise increase in dietary quality during hominid evolution and support the uricase hypothesis, which discusses the hominid autapomorphy of a fructose-based fat accumulation for periods of starvation. This model receives further validation by the identification of soft-tissue preservation, interpreted as fossilized white adipose cells, in the articulated hominid skeleton of Oreopithecus bamboli from Italy.

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“…Cases of tooth misalignment and carious lesions seen in Qafzeh 9 are rarely described in Middle Palaeolithic Eurasian hominins. Yet, they are not exceptional within the Qafzeh sample (Tillier, 1999, Tillier et al, 2004, Tillier 2007, Trinkaus and Pinilla 2009, Sarig et al, 2013, Schuh et al, 2017. Qafzeh 9 and 10 show a retroalveolar position of LI 2 , while tooth rotation affects two children (Qafzeh 11,15) and one adult (Qafzeh 25).…”

Section: Avnmentioning

confidence: 99%

Qafzeh 9 mandible (ca 90–100 kyrs BP, Israel) revisited: μ-CT and 3D reveal new pathological conditions

Nogueira

Dutour

Coqueugniot

et al. 2019

International Journal of Paleopathology

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Objective: The aim of this paper is to provide new insights into growth patterns and health of Mousterian hunter-gatherers dated to ca. 90-100 kyrs B.P. from the Qafzeh site. Material: An almost complete skeleton, including the mandible from the Qafzeh site (Qafzeh 9). Methods: Micro-CT and medical imaging techniques are used to explore inaccessible inner structures and to assess the aetiology of identified lesion. Results: Mandibular and dental conditions appear to be growth-related skeletal disorders. Conclusion: To our knowledge, Qafzeh 9 offers the earliest evidence of associated mandibular and dental pathological conditions (i.e. non-ossifying fibroma of the mandible, pre-eruptive intracoronal resorption and osteochondritis dissecans of the temporomandibular joint) among early anatomically modern humans, and more generally among Middle Palaeolithic hominins in Southwestern Asia. The diagnoses can be added to other growth-related disorders of skulls previously documented from the Qafzeh site (Tillier 1999, Tillier et al. 2001), suggesting a quite high and exceptional incidence of these conditions compared to those of Palaeolithic populations. Significance: Identification of pathological conditions in subadults from Eurasia dated to the Middle Palaeolithic is less documented than in adult skeletons. Hence, new results from immature fossil remains are particularly important to our understanding of the past. Suggestions for further research: This research will be extended to the rest of the skeleton, then to all Qafzeh specimens in order to broaden our understanding of this anatomically modern group.

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Dental Caries in the Qafzeh 3 Middle Paleolithic Modern Human

Cited by 15 publications

References 14 publications

Comparative analysis of dentognathic pathologies in the Dmanisi mandibles

Comparative analysis of dentognathic pathologies in the Dmanisi mandibles

Earliest evidence of caries lesion in hominids reveal sugar-rich diet for a Middle Miocene dryopithecine from Europe

Qafzeh 9 mandible (ca 90–100 kyrs BP, Israel) revisited: μ-CT and 3D reveal new pathological conditions

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