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'Romero A, De Juan J, 2007: Intra- and Inter-population Human Buccal Tooth Surface Microwear Analysis: Inferences about Diet and Formation Processes. Anthropologie (Brno) 45, 1: 61-70'. |
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| Abstract | | This study describes intra- and interpopulation buccal dental-microwear variability in ancient prehistoric and historic farmers, and in a modern (in vivo sample) Spanish population. An attempt has been made to relate microwear patterns to sex-age related factors and dietary habits among human groups from Spain. Casts of mandibular molar teeth of two age-grouped adults (~17-25 and 25-35 years of age) of both sexes were examined with a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Micrographs were taken on buccal surfaces at 100× magnification. Buccal dental-microwear density and length (in micrometers) by orientation classified into four categories from 0° to 180° were recorded on wellpreserved enamel micrographs using an image analysis software package. Finally, univariate and multivariate statistics were applied to examine intragroup sex-age factors and interpopulation diet-related differences in buccal-microwear patterns. No significant differences between groups defined by sex and age appeared. Nevertheless, males present a higher microwear density than females. On the other hand, adult age-group results indicate that the buccal-microwear pattern is an accumulative process. Significant differences (p<0.05) were found in the buccal-microwear density and length between groups, related to physical characteristics of their diets. An implication of these results is that intra- and interpopulation buccal-microwear might be an indicator of the physical diet nature regarding diet abrasiveness rather than dietary habits during the Holocene. Furthermore, long-term buccal-microwear turnover depends on the abrasive nature of the diet linked to dietary habits and food technical processing methods. | | | | Keywords | | Teeth - Microwear - Diet - Formation processes - Sex - Age - Spain | | |
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