Odontological, pathological and contextual patterns of the Late Glacial human tooth assemblage from Level E at Balma Guilanyà (south-eastern Pyrenees, Iberian Peninsula)

Abstract

Balma Guilanyà shelter (north-eastern Iberian Peninsula, Spain) contains a stratigraphic sequence spanning the Late Upper Palaeolithic to early Holocene. During excavations from 1992 to 2008, seventeen human teeth, and several cranial and postcranial bones were unearthed from the layer E (Late Glacial). In this contribution, we report new unpublished dental remains, which add to the previously dental assemblage from level E at Balma Guilanyà. The purpose of this article is to provide an updated description of the morphology of this material, as well as an analysis of the MNI, age at death, and the presence of several pathologies, approaching it from a holistic vision of the teeth assemblage from the Late Glacial. This review has made it possible to diagnose a dens invaginatus, the persistence of a deciduous upper central incisor (possibly caused by a mesiodens), teeth with cavities, deep occlusal pits conducive to cariogenesis, an atypical lower second molar and several molars with fused roots. This pattern of dental anomalies attributed to a single individual (Individual III) is not usual among hunter-gatherers who lived 13,000 years ago. Likewise, the presence of enamel hypoplasia in several teeth allows us to discuss this aetiology. These new identifiers derived from the review of the dental assemblage from Balma Guilanyà can help extend our knowledge of dental pathologies and stress markers in Late Glacial Homo sapiens populations in Western Europe. Additionally, an accumulation of teeth attributed to two individuals found in a confined area of the excavation was examined. Potential scenarios were assessed regarding the arrangement of this grouping, which presents challenges in attributing its formation to post-depositional or natural processes. This pattern would have the potential to elucidate behavioural funerary practices among late glacial hunter-gatherer populations.