Dento-alveolar features and diet in an Etruscan population (6th–3rd c. B.C.) from northeast Italy

Diets, stress, and disease in the Etruscan society: Isotope analysis and infantile skeletal palaeopathology from Pontecagnano (Campania, southern Italy, 730-580 BCE)

Susceptibility to morbidity and mortality is increased in early life, yet proactive measures, such as breastfeeding and weaning practices, can be taken through specific investments from parents and wider society. The extent to which such biosocialcultural investment was achieved within 1st millennium BCE Etruscan society, of whom little written sources are available, is unkown. This research investigates life histories in non-adults and adults from Pontecagnano (southern Italy, 730-580 BCE) in order to track cross-sectional and longitudinal breastfeeding and weaning patterns and to characterize the diet more broadly. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of incrementally-sampled deciduous and permanent dentine (n = 15), bulk bone collagen (n = 38), and tooth enamel bioapatite (n = 21) reveal the diet was largely based on C3 staple crops with marginal contributions of animal protein. Millet was found to play a role for maternal diet and trajectories of breastfeeding and feeding for some infants and children at the site. The combination of multiple isotope systems and tissues demonstrates exclusive breastfeeding was pursued until 0.6 years, followed by progressive introduction of proteanocius supplementary foods during weaning that lasted between approximately 0.7 and 2.6 years. The combination of biochemical data with macroscopic skeletal lesions of infantile metabolic diseases and physiological stress markers showed high δ15Ndentine in the months prior to death consistent with the isotopic pattern of opposing covariance.

Prevalence of Dental Caries in Past European Populations - a Systematic Review

OBJECTIVE

Within the fields of anthropology and osteoarcheology, human teeth have long been studied to understand the diet, habits and diseases of past civilizations. However, no complete review has been published to collect and analyze the extensive available data on caries prevalence in European man (Homo sapiens) over time.

METHOD

In this current study, the two databases, Scopus and Art, Design and Architecture Collection, were searched using predefined search terms. The literature was systematically reviewed and assessed by two of the authors.

RESULTS

The findings include a significant non-linear correlation with increasing caries prevalence in European populations from 9000 BC to 1850 AD, for both the number of carious teeth and the number of affected individuals.

CONCLUSION

Despite the well-established collective belief that caries rates fluctuate between different locations and time and the general view that caries rates have increased from prehistoric times and onwards, this is, to our knowledge, the first time this relationship has been proven, based on published data.

Leopoli-Cencelle (9th-15th centuries CE), a centre of Papal foundation: bioarchaeological analysis of the skeletal remains of its inhabitants

BACKGROUND

The medieval city of Leopoli-Cencelle (9th-15th centuries CE) represents an exceptional study-model for extending our knowledge of the Italian Medieval period due not only to the large sample size available but also to the widespread presence of material data and a well preserved archaeological context.

AIM

This research aims to reconstruct the osteobiography of the inhabitants of this centre of Papal foundation.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS

The analysed sample counts 877 individuals. Scientifically established anthropological morphological methods were used for assessing their biological profile as well as for reconstructing lifestyle and health status.

RESULTS

The sample consists of 62.49% adults and 37.51% non-adults. The mortality pattern shows the highest peak prior to 1 year and between 1 and 6 years of age and a reduced longevity of female individuals as commonly observed in pre-antibiotic era populations. Metric and musculoskeletal stress markers revealed different biomechanical stress between sexes probably carrying out different working activities. The palaeopathological analysis supports a general good health status with the exception of a few specific cases.

CONCLUSIONS

The present research helps shed light on the lifestyle of the inhabitants of Leopoli-Cencelle, enhancing a better understanding of the Italian Middle Ages.

Patterns of funerary variability, diet, and developmental stress in a Celtic population from NE Italy (3rd-1st c BC)

Little is known about the types of social organization characterizing the pre-Roman Celtic populations of Italy. Here, we explore the funerary variability characterizing the late Iron Age site of Seminario Vescovile (SV: Verona, Italy, 3^rd-1^st c. BC), and test its possible correlation to diet and relative exposure to developmental stressors. Patterns on funerary treatment (N = 125), δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N (N = 90), and linear enamel hypoplasia (N = 47) from SV are compared, and their possible association with sex and age-at-death further discussed. Results point to the presence at SV of variable funerary customs while at the same time demonstrating a rather homogenous diet and exposure to developmental stressors: funerary treatment is mainly correlated to age-at-death but do not appear to be associated to either isotopic patterns or hypoplasia frequencies. Accordingly, even if some weak social differentiation may have characterized the individuals buried at SV, this was not reflected in markedly differing living conditions. Our study is the first to attempt an exploration of the links between age, sex, funerary variability, and diet in a pre-Roman Celtic community from Italy. While highlighting the potential of a multifaceted approach in bioarcheology, it also points to a series of analytical and theoretical issues relevant when trying to disentangle the cultural and biological dimensions of social differentiation in the past.

'One tooth one child': evaluating the effects of diet and fertility on the oral health of women from archaeological sites in South America

Women from ancient societies have shown a higher prevalence of dental caries in comparison with men. Recent research has shown that the relationship between increased oestrogen production during pregnancy and decreased salivary flow is a possible cause for the higher levels of caries in women, which is in contrast to the traditional view of sexual division of labour resulting in unequal access to cariogenic food. In order to test these two hypotheses, individuals exhumed from 12 South American archaeological sites were examined for markers of oral health (caries, ante mortem tooth loss, deep caries, and enamel hypoplasia) and compared in terms of fertility (Crude Birth Rate) and subsistence systems. Our results suggest that diet and other cultural practices remain the most important factors affecting oral health and that the effects of hormones can be masked by them. Such findings add to the discussion regarding the availability of micronutrients in such societies affecting caries experience in pregnant women, because of their special nutritional requirements.

Tooth wear pattern analysis in a sample of Italian Early Bronze Age population. Proposal of a 3-D sampling sequence

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence, distribution and intensity of tooth wear in a sample of an ancient Italian population in order to explain the pattern in terms of dietary habits and/or non-dietary tooth-use behaviors during the Early Bronze Age, with a focus on possible age-group and sex differences.

DESIGN

Well-preserved permanent teeth of individuals from the Bronze Age site of Ballabio (Lecco) in northern Italy were examined for tooth wear by different methods. Eight 3D models of teeth at increasing severity of wear were created.

RESULTS

In total, 357 permanent teeth belonging to male and female individuals were included in the study. Dental wear was present in 96.6% of the total sample. Males showed significantly greater levels of wear than females in the mandibular teeth. Both sexes exhibited a significantly different wear direction between the anterior (oblique and flat) and posterior (oblique and concave) teeth. Significant age differences were observed in the direction and level of wear in the incisors, canines and premolars, with higher wear in the older group. Complete and rotatable virtual 3D images of different wear patterns are proposed.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings of the present study confirm the data from archaeological studies on this site and on northern Italian habits during the Early Bronze Age suggesting a diet rich in vegetables. The observed wear patterns can be related both to the diet of this Bronze age population, based on hard and abrasive food requiring vigorous mastication, and to sex differences in cultural practices.

Meta-analysis of teeth from European populations before and after the 18th century reveals a shift towards increased prevalence of caries and tooth loss

Based on single studies, it has been hypothesised that Europeans have suffered less frequently from caries before the 18th century than after the 18th century and that females have higher caries prevalence, but systematic European-wide overviews are sparse. We collected published data on dental diseases (publication between 1981 and 2015 with reports on 29 cohorts with 4998 individuals and a total of 85817 teeth). Meta-analyses revealed that, over several hundred years, including the post-18th century era, Europeans had relatively constant frequencies of caries and ante-mortem tooth loss, but since the 18th century, the mean frequencies of these dental diseases increased (each p<0.05). Tooth loss correlated with caries and odontogenic abscesses (each p<0.05). Although the mean caries and ante-mortem tooth loss frequencies increased since the 18th century, there are overlaps with many pre-18th century cohorts. In addition, in contrast to previous hypotheses, no general increase of caries prevalence in females could in fact be verified. It is likely that changes in nutrition (more sugar) and dental health (possibly higher frequency of tooth extraction) could be the underlying factors which led to this minor to moderate shift of dental disease frequencies in Europe.

A comparison of female and male oral health in skeletal populations from late Roman Britain: implications for diet

OBJECTIVES

Textual sources from the Roman period point to the existence of dietary differences between the sexes. The aim of this study was to assess the palaeopathological evidence for such gender differences in dietary habits in Roman Britain by comparing the oral health of sexed individuals from two late Romano-British sites (Ancaster, Lincolnshire, and Winchester, Hampshire, England).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Eighty-seven females (1243 teeth and 1950 sockets) and 112 males (1984 teeth and 2903 sockets) were examined for the presence of five dento-alveolar conditions, namely caries, calculus, periapical lesions, periodontal disease, and antemortem tooth loss. The frequency of each condition was calculated at the per individual and per tooth/socket level, and the results were compared between the sexes using Fisher's exact tests.

RESULTS

Caries and antemortem tooth loss were slightly more common among women, but differences between the sexes were generally not significant. Males experienced higher rates of calculus and periodontal disease. There were no sex differences in the frequency of periapical lesions.

CONCLUSIONS

Comparable rates of caries, periapical lesions and antemortem tooth loss in females and males indicate broad similarity in the diets of men and women. The greater levels of calculus and periodontal disease in males might point to some dietary differences, but could also be explained by non-dietary factors. Overall, the findings suggest that significant gender differences in diet, described in some contemporaneous textual sources, were not widely observed in Roman Britain.