Prehistoric dental disease and the dietary shift from cactus to cultigens in northwest Mexico

Abstract

Differences in dental health of prehistoric human groups are commonly attributed to specific subsistence practices, whereby food foragers generally have a lower incidence of dental disease than agriculturalists. Dental health was assessed on a sample of 135 human skeletons from northwest Mexico that date to the Early Agricultural period (1600 BC–AD 200), which coincides with the initial introduction of domesticated cultigens into the region c. 2000 BC. High rates of dental caries (13.5%) and antemortem tooth loss (17.6%) encountered in these prehistoric forager‐farmers from the Sonoran Desert were determined to be the result of the consumption of highly cariogenic local wild resources such as cactus. These patterns mask the degree of reliance on agriculture in the area and highlight the importance of constructing local nutritional histories to better understand the diversity of human diets and their relationships to health and disease. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Fluorescence methods (VistaCam iX proof and DIAGNODent pen) for the detection of occlusal carious lesions in teeth recovered from archaeological context

“…Yet caries in their early stages, especially those on the occlusal surfaces, are often not considered because they are not detected (Keenleyside, 2008;Watson, 2008;Esclassan et al, 2009;Slaus et al, 2011). Yet caries in their early stages, especially those on the occlusal surfaces, are often not considered because they are not detected (Keenleyside, 2008;Watson, 2008;Esclassan et al, 2009;Slaus et al, 2011).…”

“…In practice, visual examination (Tayles et al, 2000;Watson, 2008;Albashaireh and Al-Shorman, 2010) and sometimes radiography (Lingstr€ om and Borrman, 1999;Tomczyk, 2012) are employed by researchers studying archaeologically derived dental assemblages. For dentists, noninvasive examination methods that facilitate the detection of early lesions have been developed as potential diagnostic aids; among bioarchaeologists, however, these new techniques are not often used in the study of archaeologically derived materials.…”

Stratigraphy and geochronology of La Playa archaeological site, Sonora, Mexico

“…The Early Agricultural period is characterized by a shift from foraging-based subsistence to the adoption of agriculture, although both subsistence patterns appear to have been important during this time (Martinez and Sánchez, 2005;Sánchez, 1999;Watson, 2008). The Early Agricultural period is divided into two phases that are distinguished by projectile point styles, architectural forms, stone tool technologies, and marine shell ornamentation (Carpenter et al, 1999).…”

“…Canals from southern Arizona dating to this period demonstrate the importance of agricultural investment among these incipient farmers (Mabry and Davis, 2008). The Cienega phase (2800-1800 BP) shows increased local investment and sedentism, larger villages, and more technologically complex artifacts (Watson, 2008).…”

Oral health and the postcontact adaptive transition: A contextual reconstruction of diet in Mórrope, Peru

“…Clinical, experimental, and anthropological studies demonstrate the relationships between diet and dental decay (e.g., Pindborg, 1970;Hillson, 1996;Larsen, 1997;Sakashita et al, 1997;Lingström and Borrman, 1999;Nelson et al, 1999;Whittington, 1999;Ortner, 2003;Lieverse et al, 2007;Temple, 2007;Temple and Larsen, 2007;Watson, 2008). Dental caries are a cumulative effect of changes in the pH environment in plaque deposits on tooth surfaces, linked to the proportion of dietary carbohydrates, salivary pH, and the complex bacterial ecology present in oral plaque (Hillson, 2008).…”