On the applicability of the assessment of dental tooth wear for the study of collective prehistoric burials

• Author(s): Marado, Luís Miguel ; Cunha, Cláudia ; Scott, G. Richard ; Tomé, Tiago ; Machado, Hugo ; Silva, Ana Maria
• Date: 2017
• Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/10451/35231
• Origin: Repositório da Universidade de Lisboa
• Subject(s): Bioarchaeology; Extramasticatory dental wear; Teeth as tools; Dental lesions; Bioarchéologie; Usure dentaire extra-masticatoire; Les dents comme outils; Lésions dentaires
• Document Type: Book part
• Language: English
• Contributor(s): Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto da ULisboa

Description

Teeth are a very important resource in Biological Anthropology. One of their many uses is the evaluation of dental wear, which can document both masticatory and non-masticatory behavior. The objectives of this work are to 1) present a protocol for scoring evidence of non-masticatory activity applicable to all kinds of contexts (including commingled collective burials), 2) suggest interpretation tools, and 3) use simple, time-saving and accessible procedures. Procedures addressing oral alterations, a new trait – cingular continuous lesions (CCL) – and statistical analysis are described. This method will complement archaeological knowledge on past populations’ cultural, ritual or work-related tooth uses.