Dental microwear texture analysis of Homo sapiens sapiens: Foragers, farmers, and pastoralists

Author(s):Show less -

Schmidt, Christopher W. ^[1] ; Remy, Shley ^[2] ; Van Sessen, Rebecca ^[1] ; Willman, John ^{[3, 4]} ; Krueger, Kristin ^[5] ; Scott, Rachel ^[6] ; Mahoney, Patrick ^[7] ; Beach, Jeremy ^[1] ; McKinley, Jaqueline ^[8] ; D'Anastasio, Ruggero ^[9] ; Chiu, Laura ^[1] ; Buzon, Michele ^[10] ; De Gregory, J. Rocco ^[11] ; Sheridan, Susan ^[12] ; Eng, Jacqueline ^[13] ; Watson, James ^[14] ; Klaus, Haagen ^{[15, 16]} ; Da-Gloria, Pedro ^[17] ; Wilson, Jeremy ^[18] ; Stone, Abigail ^[5] ; Sereno, Paul ^[19] ; Droke, Jessica ^[20] ; Perash, Rose ^[21] ; Stojanowski, Christopher ^[22] ; Herrmann, Nicholas ^[23]

Affiliation:Show less -

^[1] Univ Indianapolis, Dept Anthropol, 1400 E Hanna Ave, Indianapolis, IN 46227 - USA

^[2] Univ New Mexico, Fluorescence Microscopy & Cell Imaging Shared Res, Comprehens Canc Ctr, Albuquerque, NM 87131 - USA

^[3] Inst Catala Paleoecol Humana & Evolucio Social, IPHES, Tarragona - Spain

^[4] URV, Area Prehist, Tarragona - Spain

^[5] Loyola Univ, Dept Anthropol, Chicago, IL 60611 - USA

^[6] Univ Auckland, Dept Anthropol, Auckland - New Zealand

^[7] Univ Kent, Dept Anthropol, Canterbury, Kent - England

^[8] Wessex Archaeol, Salisbury, Wilts - England

^[9] Univ G dAnnunzio, Dept Anthropol, Chieti - Italy

^[10] Purdue Univ, Dept Sociol & Anthropol, W Lafayette, IN 47907 - USA

^[11] Tennessee Valley Archaeol Res, Huntsville, AL - USA

^[12] Dept Anthropol, Indiana, PA - USA

^[13] Western Michigan Univ, Dept Anthropol, Kalamazoo, MI 49008 - USA

^[14] Univ Arizona, Sch Anthropol, Arizona State Museum, Tucson, AZ - USA

^[15] George Mason Univ, Sociol & Anthropl, Fairfax, VA 22030 - USA

^[16] Museo Nacl Sick, Ferrenafe - Peru

^[17] Fed Univ Para, Grad Program Anthropol, Belem, Para - Brazil

^[18] Indiana Univ Purdue Univ, Dept Anthropol, Indianapolis, IN 46202 - USA

^[19] Univ Chicago, Dept Organismal Biol & Anat, 1025 E 57Th St, Chicago, IL 60637 - USA

^[20] Univ Wyoming, Dept Anthropol, Laramie, WY 82071 - USA

^[21] Univ Nevada, Dept Anthropol, Reno, NV 89557 - USA

^[22] Arizona State Univ, Dept Anthropol, Tempe, AZ 85287 - USA

^[23] Texas State Univ San Marcos, Dept Anthropol, San Marcos, TX - USA

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY; v. 169, n. 2, p. 207-226, JUN 2019.
• Web of Science Citations: 2

Abstract

Objectives The current study seeks to determine if a sample of foragers, farmers, and pastoralists are distinguishable based on their dental microwear texture signatures. Materials and methods The study included a sample of 719 individuals from 51 archeological sites (450 farmers, 192 foragers, 77 pastoralists). All were over age 12 and sexes were pooled. Using a Sensofar (R) white-light confocal profiler we collected dental microwear texture analysis (DMTA) data from a single first or second molar from each individual. We leveled and cleaned data clouds following standard procedures and analyzed the data with Sfrax (R) and Toothfrax (R) software. The DMTA variables were complexity and anisotropy. Statistics included ANOVA with partial eta squared and Hedges's g. We also performed a follow-up K-means cluster analysis. Results We found significant differences between foragers and farmers and pastoralists for complexity and anisotropy, with foragers having greater complexity than either the farmers or the pastoralists. The farmers and pastoralists had greater anisotropy than the foragers. The Old World foragers had significantly higher anisotropy values than New World foragers. Old and New World farmers did not differ. Among the Old World farmers, those dating from the Neolithic through the Late Bronze Age had higher complexity values than those from the Iron Age through the medieval period. The cluster analysis discerned foragers and farmers but also indicated similarity between hard food foragers and hard food farmers. Discussion Our findings reaffirm that DMTA is capable of distinguishing human diets. We found that foragers and farmers, in particular, differ in their microwear signatures across the globe. There are some exceptions, but nothing that would be unexpected given the range of human diets and food preparation techniques. This study indicates that in general DMTA is an efficacious means of paleodietary reconstruction in humans. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 13/00069-0 - Health and lifestyle of the Paleoamericans of Lagoa Santa: an ethnobioarchaeological approach
• Grantee: Pedro José Tótora da Glória
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Young Investigators Grants