Multipronged dental analyses reveal dietary differences in last foragers and first farmers at Grotta Continenza, central Italy (15,500-7000 BP (original) (raw)

This paper provides results from a suite of analyses made on human dental material from the Late Palaeolithic to Neolithic strata of the cave site of Grotta Continenza situated in the Fucino Basin of the Abruzzo region of central Italy. The available human remains from this site provide a unique possibility to study ways in which forager versus farmer lifeways affected human odonto-skeletal remains. The main aim of our study is to understand palaeodietary patterns and their changes over time as reflected in teeth. These analyses involve a review of metrics and oral pathologies, micro-fossils preserved in the mineralized dental plaque, macrowear, and buccal microwear. Our results suggest that these complementary approaches support the assumption about a critical change in dental conditions and status with the introduction of Neolithic foodstuff and habits. However, we warn that different methodologies applied here provide data at different scales of resolution for detecting such changes and a multipronged approach to the study of dental collections is needed for a more comprehensive and nuanced understanding of diachronic changes. The transition from foraging to farming was a long-lasting and nonlinear process that took place over several millennia and enfolded at different times in different parts of the world (e.g. 1-3). While this process is clearly reflected in changes in material culture traditions, it can equally well be observed on skeletal evidence (e.g. 4-6). Among other human remains, teeth represent the privileged anatomical segment for the application of sophisticated analytical methods. Teeth are the most durable part of the human body; mineralized tissues capable of preserving valuable information about an individual's biological life history. As food passes through the mouth, teeth trap direct evidence of dietary practices-either through physical-chemical changes foodstuff causes in teeth (certain dental pathologies), traces of wear, and/or foods deposited in the matrix of mineralized dental plaque. Besides information on dietary practices, various physiological processes are also recorded in dental structures. In particular, carious lesions can be informative of the consumption of highly cariogenic wild and domesticated plant foods as they involve the progressive demineralization of the mineral component of the dental tissues by acids produced from the fermentation of food particles 7. Dental microwear analysis is commonly used to investigate shifts in dietary habits in past human populations 8-12. Foodstuffs chewing causes microscopic OPEN