Determining Age and Season of Death by Use of Incremental Lines in Norwegian Reindeer Tooth Cementum

Using incremental patterns in tooth cementum is a powerful tool for age assessment. Recent developments have shown that the method has a large potential as an indicator of the season of death of the individual in question. In this paper, the results of a study comparing thin sections of teeth of the modern Hardangervidda reindeer population to those of Iron Age, eleventh, and thirteenth century reindeer hunting stations from the same area are presented. The tooth wear stages were compared to the actual age of the individual (based on the number of incremental lines and the age at eruption). It was established that in the studied reindeer populations wear stages sometimes result in too low an age estimate. Having identified the start of the period of deposition for rest lines in the modern reindeer population as early autumn and winter, analysis of the outermost layer in the tooth cementum at the archaeological sites points to a prolonged hunting season in the thirteenth century, while in the earlier phases hunters were probably present on fewer and shorter visits.     

Exponentially decreasing tooth growth rate in horse teeth: implications for isotopic analyses

A range of archaeological and palaeoclimatic studies use isotopic analyses of ungulate hypsodont tooth enamel. Such studies commonly assume a constant growth rate, though this has not been fully tested. Here, we use stable isotope analyses of sequential enamel samples to study horse tooth growth. We fit the data using models corresponding to constant and exponentially decreasing rates of growth, and compare the results to metrical data showing the geometry and timing of apposition. The results indicate enamel apposition and maturation advances at an exponentially decreasing rate. An understanding of this variable growth rate is crucial for interpreting isotopic data from equid teeth.     

Neolithic nomadism in south‐east Arabia — strontium and oxygen isotope ratios in human tooth enamel from al‐Buhais 18 and Umm al‐Quwain 2 in the Emirates of Sharjah and Umm al‐Quwain (UAE)

Human skeletal remains from the Neolithic sites BHS18 in the interior of the Sharjah Emirate and the Neolithic shell midden UAQ2 (Umm al‐Quwain) on the coast of the Persian Gulf (United Arab Emirates, UAE) were analysed for their isotope ratios of strontium (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr) and oxygen (¹⁸O/¹⁶O). The results are not in agreement with earlier assumptions about a Neolithic nomadism between inland regions and the south‐eastern coast of the Persian Gulf. Existing evidence of nomadic movements of the people from BHS18 most possibly refers to transhumance within the mountains in the hinterland. The strontium isotope measurements on human skeletons from UAQ2 on the contrary indicate uninterrupted residence of this population on the coast. Nevertheless, evidence was found of individual mobility between inland regions and the coast.     

贵州最早的骨制装饰品

贵州最早的骨制装饰品出自距今一万二千年至一万五千年前的普定白岩脚洞旧石器时代晚期遗址。装饰品有1件骨笄和1件穿孔兽牙。它们是贵州的首次发现,也体现了贵州远古人类最早的爱美意识。从装饰品本体携带的信息,探索其制作技能,反映出当时人类加工技术的复杂和进步,即对不同用途的装饰品采用不同的加工方式和对同一制品的制作技术逐步改良的处理能力。这既是思维进化指导行为的结果,亦是原始人类迈向更加文明时代的一大进步。     

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

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.     

Intra‐individual variation in stable carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) isotopes in mandibles of modern caribou of Qamanirjuaq (Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus) and Banks Island (Rangifer tarandus pearyi): Implications for tracing seasonal and temporal changes in diet

Intra‐individual variations in carbon (δ¹³C) and nitrogen (δ¹⁵N) isotope measurements of dentine collagen in ungulate teeth can be related to diet and environmental changes at different periods during the life of the animal. A protocol of serial sampling of first, second and third molar roots was applied to modern caribou (17–27 months old) of the Qamanirjuaq herd (Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus), Canada. Based on a previous study, we predicted that M2 would reflect winter, M3 summer and M1 a complete year in terms of the isotopic record. Relatively high δ¹⁵N values (ca. 6 to 8‰), previously attributed to winter stress, were found in different molars of different specimens, reflecting a period of growth between April 1966 to April 1967. Previous results on other teeth from the same population confirmed that a high δ¹⁵N_coll value signal corresponded to the winter of 1966/67. This temporary increase in δ¹⁵N value was probably linked to diet and/or environmental change. Collagen from M1 reflects the first winter whereas M2 and M3 reflect the second winter of life of young caribou. A longer time record including summer is represented by the bone collagen of the mandible. Results obtained on molar roots and mandible bone of the modern caribou of Banks Island herd (Rangifer tarandus pearyi) confirmed this seasonal record. Such collagen isotopic analysis on M1, M2 and M3 roots and jawbone can be applied to reindeer found in archaeological sites. Mandibles retaining deciduous premolars are preferable to avoid the possible loss of the winter tooth signal observed in animals older than 2 years. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Strontium isotope evidence of migration and diet in relation to ritual tooth ablation: a case study from the Inariyama Jomon site,Japan

Ritual tooth ablation was extensively practiced among Jomon (Japanese Neolithic) societies in their final phase (ca. 3000-2300 BP). This tradition includes two different tooth ablation patterns, type 4I and type 2C, referring to extraction of the mandibular incisors and canines, respectively. However, the reason for this difference is unclear. Previous carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis of human remains from the Inariyama shell mound revealed that type 4I individuals were more dependent on terrestrial resources and type 2C individuals on marine resources. To test this hypothesis, we performed strontium (Sr) isotope (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr) analyses on the same skeletal remains and on modern plants around the site. Because Sr isotope ratios of plants differ according to the local geology and seawater has a consistent Sr isotope ratio, the Sr isotope ratios of tooth enamel can reveal both migration and diet. Comparing Sr isotope ratios in plants and seawater with those of tooth enamel, we identified four possible immigrants. Type 4I locals had significantly higher Sr isotope ratios than type 2C locals. The ratios of the type 4I and type 2C locals were close to those of terrestrial plants and seawater, respectively, suggesting that type 4I locals had incorporated much Sr from terrestrial resources and type 2C locals from marine resources. These results support the hypothesis that ritual tooth ablation reflects dietary differences throughout an individual’s life, and they suggest possible occupational differentiation among the Jomon people.     

Mollusk shells from burials of tuzovskiye bugry-1 As indicators of ethno-cultural processes In southern siberia and western central asia In the 3rd millennium bc

This article focuses on adornments made of mollusk shells from graves of the Tuzovskiye Bugry-1 burial ground in the Altai Territory. The collection includes bivalve shells: Corbicula ferghanensis Kurs. et Star. currently inhabiting the Amu Darya and Syr Darya basins; Corbicula tibetensis Prash. inhabiting the mountain regions of Central Asia, Eastern Kazakhstan, and the Amu Darya and Syr Darya basins; fossil Corbicula similar to Corbicula fl uminalis Mull; swan mussel of the genus Colletopterum inhabiting the Ob basin; and one specimen of Cardiidae sp. of the marine, probably, paleospecies. The most interesting are ancient marine tooth shells related to the genus Dentalium (class Scaphopoda, family Dentaliidae). In the Altai Territory, there are no such deposits that could have contained such shells. These shells were possibly brought by people from other regions. The closest occurrences of Dentaliidae are known in the Aral Sea region. The presence of beads of a truncated cone shape made of Dentalium shells as well as pendants made of Corbicula valves suggest connections between the Altai population and people inhabiting Western Central Asia. These connections might have existed in the form of direct contacts with bearers of the Ust-Narym and Botai cultures or else might have been the result of migration of people from Western Central Asia and Eastern Kazakhstan to the Altai.     

Stable isotope insights (δ18O, δ13C) into cattle and sheep husbandry at Bercy (Paris,France, 4th millennium BC): birth seasonality and winter leaf foddering

Abstract

Bercy is a prehistoric village sited by the Seine river (Paris, France), whose main period of occupation was dated to the very beginning of the 4th millennium BC. The animal subsistence economy relied heavily on cattle husbandry, complemented by other species including sheep. Cattle and sheep isotopic history (δ¹³C, δ¹⁸O) was investigated at the seasonal scale, through sequential sampling in tooth enamel, providing new insights into seasonality of birth and diet. Sheep were lambing in mid-spring, only slightly later than expected from what is observed nowadays in temperate Europe at similar latitude. Cattle were born over a period spanning approximately six months, which was an unexpected result compared with a two to three months calving period in free-ranging cattle populations. The extension of the calving period might have been related to seasonal food supplementation. Some cattle and some sheep fed on a ¹³C-depleted resource in winter, potentially leafy fodder. A direct consequence of an extended calving period would be the availability of cow milk, which would have covered the whole year at Bercy. This is important information in a context where the exploitation of cattle milk by the human community was highly suspected from the demographic management of the herd.