Reconstruction of dietary habits on the basis of dental microwear and trace elements analysis of individuals from Gan cemetery (district Galanta, Slovakia)

Tibenská, Kristína Domonkošová; Bodoríková, Silvia; Katina, Stanislav; Kovácsová, V.; Kubová, J.; Takács, Michal

doi:10.1127/0003-5548/2010/0079

anthranz

2010

DOI: 10.1127/0003-5548/2010/0079

|View full text |Cite

Reconstruction of dietary habits on the basis of dental microwear and trace elements analysis of individuals from Gan cemetery (district Galanta, Slovakia)

Kristína Domonkošová Tibenská

Silvia Bodoríková²,

Stanislav Katina³

et al.

Help me understand this report

Search citation statements

Order By: Relevance

Paper Sections

Select...

Citation Types

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Year Published

2012

2023

Publication Types

Select...

Article2

Relationship

Self Cite0

Independent2

Authors

Journals

Cited by 2 publications

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

Diet in the Early Bronze Age: a buccal microwear analysis from the plain of Barcelona (Spain)

Gluitz,

Martínez,

Molist

et al. 2023

Archaeol Anthropol Sci

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This study aims to characterize the dietary habits of the Barcelona plain (Spain) population during the Early Bronze Age. An analysis of buccal microwear has been performed on 467 samples from 20 individuals buried in the largest cemetery of the plain of Barcelona in this period, the Plaça de la Gardunya, and 1 sample from the site of the Mercat de Santa Caterina. Molars and premolars were examined using a scanning electron microscope (SEM), and their microwear patterns were compared with reference patterns associated with known dietary habits and subsistence strategies. The results suggest that dietary habits differed between age groups and between sexes: males were more carnivorous than females, and subadults ate harder foods than adults. Buccal microwear from the Barcelona plain shows similar values to carnivorous diets of anthropological populations. Based on all the archaeological evidence (building types and zooarchaeology, archaeobotany and stone tools) from this settlement and those in its vicinity, we propose that the individuals from the Barcelona plain had a mixed diet, with large consumption of meat, secondary products and fish. Agricultural products, stored in silos and grill structures and processed with more sophisticated grinding techniques, were also consumed, mainly by subadult individuals.

show abstract

Diet in the Early Bronze Age: a buccal microwear analysis from the plain of Barcelona (Spain)

Gluitz,

Martínez,

Molist

et al. 2023

Archaeol Anthropol Sci

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Error rates and observer bias in dental microwear analysis using light microscopy

Mihlbachler

Beatty

Caldera-Siu

et al. 2012

Palaeontologia Electronica

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Despite the increased use of light microscopy in microwear analysis, studies that recognize observer error are scarce. Nonetheless, microwear analysis based on light microscopy may be more prone to observer bias than SEM or confocal microscopy. We measured observer error among five observers, who independently analyzed identical sets of dental wear surfaces on digital micrographs taken through a light microscope. For experienced microscopists, error in light-microscope-based microwear was of a similar magnitude to error rates for SEM-based microwear methods. Significant intraobserver error was rare among the most experienced observers and higher among inexperienced observers. However, because observers develop familiarity when repeatedly analyzing the same image, intraobserver error measured here and in other similar SEM studies may be artificially low. Interobserver error was highly significant and did not appear to diminish with experience. Nonetheless, the data collected by all observers was highly correlated. Essentially all observers found similar microwear differences between the species analyzed, even though the absolute values in the data were observer dependent. Going forward, microwear results will be more robust if observers adopt methods that ensure observer blindness, and avoid the common practice of combining data from different observers, and even from one observer when the observarions are separated by time and experience. Rather than using pre-published microwear databases of extant species as a basis for interpreting paleodiet, researchers may be better served by building shared microwear image libraries, with which observers could generate their own data for the basis of making paleodietary inferences.

show abstract

scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.

Contact Info

customersupport@researchsolutions.com

10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614

Henderson, NV 89052, USA

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Blog Terms and Conditions API Terms Privacy Policy Contact Cookie Preferences Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information

Made with 💙 for researchers

Part of the Research Solutions Family.

Reconstruction of dietary habits on the basis of dental microwear and trace elements analysis of individuals from Gan cemetery (district Galanta, Slovakia)

Cited by 2 publications

References 0 publications

Diet in the Early Bronze Age: a buccal microwear analysis from the plain of Barcelona (Spain)

Diet in the Early Bronze Age: a buccal microwear analysis from the plain of Barcelona (Spain)

Error rates and observer bias in dental microwear analysis using light microscopy

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About