Large-Scale Analysis of Microfossils Extracted From Human Rapanui Dental Calculus: A Dual-Method Approach Using SEM- EDS And Light Microscopy to Address Ancient Dietary Hypotheses (original) (raw)
Related papers
2015
Human dental calculus is an excellent target for examining the plant component of ancient diets. Mi- crofossils become imbedded within dental calculus throughout life, providing an overall picture of plant foods available (at least those that produce recoverable microfossils). Here we evaluate previous phy- tolith results (Dudgeon and Tromp, 2012) by examining starch grains from 30 human dental calculus samples from 10 archaeological sites throughout Rapa Nui (Easter Island), dating between AD 1330 e1900. The unobscured starch grains recovered are consistent with descriptions of modern reference samples of sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas). These results indicate the importance of sweet potato to the Rapanui diet prior to European contact in 1722. The analysis of modern sweet potato skins show that they incorporate phytoliths as they grow in phytolith rich sediment, and we argue that the high fre- quency of palm phytoliths recovered from dental calculus, in conjunction with our starch results points to the consumption of sweet potato.
International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 2012
This paper uses microfossil analysis of human dental calculus to address questions of human and human-environment interactions using 114 teeth from an archaeological population on Rapa Nui (Easter Island), dated between the late 16 th to early 18 th century. We recovered 16,377 total biogenic silica microfossils: 4,733 phytoliths and 11,644 diatoms. The majority of phytoliths correspond with the Arecaceae or palm family (n = 4,456) and the minority corresponds to the Poaceae or grass family (n = 277). Because of the relatively large sample size we were able to test hypothesis related to age cohort, sex, food resources and geographic region. There was not a significant difference in phytolith or diatom recovery based on age cohort or sex. However, the high frequency of phytoliths found in calculus extracted from the anterior dentition argues for the consumption of soft or cooked foods and the high frequency of diatoms recovered from the southern part of the Island argues for different sources of drinking water. Hardy K, Blakeney T, Copeland L, Kirkham J, Wrangham R and Collins M. 2009. Starch granules, dental calculus and new perspectives on ancient diet. Journal of Archaeological Science 36: 248-255. Haynes J and McLaughlin J. 2000. Edible Palms and Their Uses. Fact Sheet MDCE-00-50-1, University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. Henry AG, Brooks AS and Piperno DR. 2011. Microfossils in calculus demonstrate consumption of plants and cooked foods in Neanderthal diets (Shanidar III, Iraq; Spy I and II, Belgium). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 108: 486-491. Henry AG and Piperno DR. 2008. Using plant microfossils from dental calculus to recover human diet: a case study from Tell al-Raqa'i, Syria.
This paper relates to the study of the health and diet of ancient Easter Islanders. It is based on human skeletons discovered between 1934 and 2009. We studied skeletal markers that revealed poor living conditions during growth (stress indicators) and recorded the presence of infectious diseases. The dietary reconstitution is based on dental microwear and the analysis of carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes. Our study indicates relatively good health and food conditions during childhood. However, we found cases of infectious diseases that probably followed contact with Europeans or Americans. The dental microwear pattern is due to the dominant part of the tubers. The stable isotopes show that, on average, a little more than one third of their dietary proteins came from the sea.
Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand
Here we report on microfossil analysis of human dental calculus from Lapita (3000–2600 yr BP) and post-Lapita (2300–2000 yr BP) burials from Vao and Uripiv, Vanuatu. Phytoliths of introduced Musa and indigenous Heliconia in the calculus suggest the use of these taxa as food wrappings. Phytoliths and most other material in the calculus, namely sponge spicules, calcium oxalate crystals, xylem and charcoal, are unequivocal identifications. Another type of material, comprising degraded objects with a general morphology suggesting starch grains, is uncertain, however, as the unequivocal starch indicator, the Maltese cross, was not observed. We used a new method for calculus analysis, Fourier Transform InfraRed spectroscopy (FTIR), comparing the suspected starch with modern reference starch of prehistoric Pacific crops. Although the ancient FTIR analysis was limited to a small number of suspected starch grains, the results provide another line of evidence for starch. The calculus data are consistent with previous microfossil studies of Lapita deposits at the sites, and demonstrate the efficacy of this technique in contributing to the definition of the history of plant use and diet of early Pacific Island populations.
Dental indicators of ancient dietary patterns: dental analysis in archaeology
2014
What can the study of ancient teeth tell us about the dietary habits of our ancestors? Diet plays a prominent role in the organisation and evolution of human cultures and an increasingly diverse array of analytical techniques are available to help reconstruct diet in ancient populations. Dental palaeopathology is particularly important as it can provide direct evidence of the type of diet an individual consumed during life. Heavy occlusal tooth wear is the most frequent condition recognisable and an examination of both macro and microscopic patterns of wear can establish the differences between the hard fibrous diet typical of a hunter-gatherer, and a diet primarily consisting of softer plant foods consumed by an agriculturist. The distributions of trace elements and stable isotopes in food webs make it possible to use them as natural tracers of foodstuffs. The ratios of the different stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen can determine, through a consideration of photosynthetic pathways, which specific groups of plants and animals were dominant in the food chains of various populations - a fact that has been used to trace the spread of agriculture in ancient civilisations.
Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 2021
In recent years, new applications of microremain dietary analysis using dental calculus as a source of dietary data on ancient human subsistence and behaviours have accelerated. The dental calculus of contemporary human and non-human populations with known diets have been used as reference datasets, including the chimpanzees of Taï National Park (Côte d'Ivoire), but explaining the preservation mechanism involved is challenged by our incomplete knowledge of the microremain content within the diets of these reference populations and our rudimentary information on microremain incorporation into dental calculus. Here, we analyse phytoliths in faecal samples to assess to what extent plant phytoliths of a diet are reflected in the dental calculus as well as in the egested faeces. In this study, we identify and document the faecal phytolith assemblages as an indicator of plant consumption in two Western chimpanzees of the Taï National Park (Côte d'Ivoire) before (wet season), during (dry season) and after (dry season) a dust-rich period. Moreover, observational dietary records of these two individuals were compiled to improve the interpretability of this dental calculus phytolith dataset. The faecal phytolith assemblages vary significantly across samples in terms of abundance and diversity. The most common phytolith morphotypes were eudicot plates, single-cell and multi-cell tracheids, monocot rugulose and echinate spheroids and, to a lesser extent, unspecified thick and thin elongates. High loads of grit and other micro-remains (e.g. diatoms) are found during the dry period. Using observational dietary records as a starting point and our faecal results as a terminus, we consider how dental calculus can accumulate phytoliths. Our findings enable identification of the phytolith morphotypes that are under-represented in dental calculus, which is highly informative for future dental calculus research strategies.
2016
Easter Island (or Rapa Nui), famous worldwide for its gigantic stone statues, is the most isolated inhabited island in the Pacific. Yet the history of its inhabitants has been far from peaceful: they have faced deforestation, slave raids, epidemics and colonialism. This paper aims to study the diet of the ancient Easter Islanders and focuses on dietary reconstruction through the analysis of human teeth and bones, more particularly, on the impact of gender, age, social status and spatial distribution. However, retrieving information on their dietary habits is difficult, due to the absence of written archives and the disappearance of most of the bearers of the indigenous culture during the slave raids and epidemics of the nineteenth century. Therefore our primary source of direct information are food remains (animal bones and plant remnants) and human bones. The individuals studied came from twenty sites, which date mainly from the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries. The greater part had been buried in monuments (funerary stone platforms called ahu), or caves. These individuals are currently stored at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences and the Father Sebastian Englert Anthropological Museum of Easter Island. Dietary reconstruction is based on stress indicators, dental microwear and stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses. Stress indicators are skeletal markers which reveal poor living conditions during growth. Two indicators were studied: dental enamel hypoplasia (localised defects in the tooth crown generally expressed in the form of horizontal depressions) and cribra orbitalia (porotic lesions in the bony orbital roof). Dental microwear is the study of the microscopic features that form on the teeth’s surfaces as a result of use. Their density, dimensions, and orientation are a direct result of diet. Stable isotope analyses are based on the fact that the isotopic composition of an individual’s tissues is determined by the proportion of the various foods consumed. Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope composition were analysed in the bone collagen. Dental microwear patterns indicated a large proportion of tubers in the Easter islanders’ diet. Additionally, the stable isotopes showed that, on average, one third of the dietary proteins were of marine origin and that children were breastfed until three years of age. Stress indicators suggest that infantile malnutrition was not severe. Our results also demonstrated gender disparity in access to food resources. Furthermore, the isotopic signatures clustered according to the place of burial (ahu), indicating family dietary specificities. Finally, our study revealed the influence of social status on food intake: individuals from Ahu Nau Nau, which is said to be the royal ahu, displayed the highest value of nitrogen and carbon isotopes and the lowest number of microwear features. A greater consumption of marine products may explain this distinction. L’île de Pâques (ou Rapa Nui), célèbre dans le monde entier pour ses gigantesques statues de pierre, est l’île habitée la plus isolée du Pacifique. L’histoire de ses habitants, les Pascuans, fut des plus tourmentée. Ils durent tour à tour faire face à la déforestation, aux raids esclavagistes, aux épidémies et au colonialisme. Les fouilles archéologiques menées à partir de la fin du XIXe siècle ont permis la mise au jour de restes humains appartenant à plusieurs centaines d’individus. L’attribution chronologique des squelettes, est cependant problématique, car la plupart des monuments ont été utilisés pendant de longues périodes. En outre, les datations ont été effectuée principalement sur des objets en obsidienne mais rarement directement sur des restes humains. Cet article traite du régime alimentaire des anciens Pascuans. Collecter des informations sur leurs habitudes alimentaires n’est pas une tâche facile compte tenu de l’absence d’archives écrites et de la disparition de la majorité des détenteurs de la culture ancestrales au cours des raids d’esclavagistes et des épidémies du XIXe siècle. Les principales sources d’information directe sur le régime des anciens habitants de l’île sont les déchets alimentaires (restes animaux et végétaux) et les restes humains. Notre étude concerne ces derniers : nos reconstitutions alimentaires sont basées sur l’étude de leurs dents et de leurs ossements et, portent plus particulièrement, sur l’impact du sexe, de l’âge, du statut social et de la répartition spatiale. Les individus étudiés proviennent de vingt sites datant principalement du XVII au XIXe siècle. La majorité de ces individus ont été inhumés dans des monuments (plates-formes funéraires en pierre appelées ahu) ou dans des grottes. Ce matériel anthropologique fait partie des collections de l’Institut royal des sciences naturelles de Belgique et du musée anthropologique Père-Sébastien-Englert de l’île de Pâques. Les reconstitutions du régime alimentaire sont basées sur l’analyse des indicateurs de stress, de la micro-usure dentaire et des isotopes stables du carbone et de l’azote. Les indicateurs de stress sont des marqueurs osseux ou dentaires qui révèlent de mauvaises conditions de vie pendant la croissance. Deux indicateurs ont été étudiés: l’hypoplasie de l’émail dentaire (défauts localisés dans la couronne de la dent généralement exprimés sous forme de dépressions horizontales) et les cribra orbitalia (lésions porotiques localisées dans le toit de l’orbite). La micro-usure dentaire consiste en des altérations microscopiques (stries et puits) qui se forment à la surface des dents suite à leur utilisation. Leur densité, leurs dimensions et leur orientation sont fonction du type d’aliment consommé. Les analyses des isotopes stables sont basées sur le fait que la composition isotopique des tissus d’un individu reflète la proportion des différents aliments qu’il a consommés. La composition isotopique du carbone et de l’azote a été mesurée dans le collagène osseux. Le pattern de micro-usure dentaire indique une forte proportion de tubercules dans l’alimentation des Pascuans. Les isotopes stables montrent que, en moyenne, un tiers des protéines alimentaires étaient d’origine marine et que les enfants étaient allaités jusqu’à l’âge de 3 ans. Les indicateurs de stress suggèrent que la malnutrition infantile n’était pas sévère. Nos résultats mettent également en évidence des disparités entre les hommes et les femmes dans l’accès aux ressources alimentaires : les hommes consommaient davantage de protéines d’origine animale. En outre, les signatures isotopiques des individus varient en fonction de leur lieu d’inhumation (ahu) indiquant des spécificités alimentaires familiales. Enfin, notre étude révèle une influence du statut social sur la consommation alimentaire : les individus de l’Ahu Nau Nau, connu comme étant l’ahu royal, présentent des valeurs des isotopes de l’azote et du carbone les plus élevées et un nombre plus réduit de microtraces d’usure dentaire. Une plus grande consommation de produits d’origine marine pourrait expliquer cette distinction.
New insights into the marine contribution to ancient Easter Islanders’ diet
Easter Island (or Rapa Nui), internationally renowned for its megalithic statues, is the most isolated inhabited island of the Pacific. Archaeological surveys undertaken fromthe end of the 19th century led to the discovery of the remains of several hundred human individuals. The majority were buried in monuments (funerary stone platform called ahu) or in caves. This paper presents a study of the ancient Easter Islanders' diet through carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis of human tooth and bone collagen and, more particularly, evaluates the impact of gender, age, social status and location of burials. The 125 studied individuals are from 16 sites, which date mainly from the 17th to the 19th centuries. This anthropological material is housed at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural sciences and the Father Sebastián Englert Anthropological Museum of Easter Island. One hundred and seven individuals showed well-preserved collagen. The stable isotope data provide new information on ancient Easter Islander dietary habits. They demonstrate gender disparity in access to food resources and show that children were breastfed until 3 years of age. Furthermore, the isotopic signatures cluster according to the place of burial (ahu) indicating family dietary specificities. Finally, our study reveals influences of social status on food intake: individuals from Ahu Nau Nau, which is said to be the royal ahu, display the highest nitrogen and carbon isotope values. A greater consumption of marine products may explain this distinction.
American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 1996
Silica phytoliths (microscopic remains originating in plant tissues) have been identified on the enamel surface and dental calculus of a sample of teeth selected from well preserved skeletons from a Late Roman necropolis in Tarragona (Spain). Phytoliths were observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and their siliceous nature was confirmed by X-ray microanalysis. The phytoliths were compared to those of soil samples from both the areas of the tombs corresponding to the abdomen and the periphery of the skeletons, and were classified taxonomically by comparison with a large collection of silica particles from modern plants in the Mediterranean area. Most of the phytoliths identified on the enamel and the dental calculus belong to the family of Poaceae, while the phytoliths from the abdominal area belong to Poaceae, Leguminosae, Cyperaceae, and Chenopodiaceae. Results are concordant with archaeological, ecological, and historical data from the same site, and with the human Mediterranean diet. If done properly, the study of phytoliths can provide direct information about the vegetable diet of past human populations, and could be applied to the study of human fossils.
Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews, 2018
Dental calculus is now widely used to recover information on items ingested in the past. It is particularly valuable in the earlier Paleolithic, where recovered data may represent the only evidence for plant use. Several recovery methods are used and each one produces different results. Biomolecular markers and genetic material recovered from dental calculus is providing new data on identifiable dietary and medicinal items and human microbial communities. The recovery of microfossils, in particular, starch granules, has triggered a new awareness of the role of plants in the diet throughout the Paleolithic. However, the minute amount of material recovered has little relationship with food eaten during a person's life, while salivary amylase breaks down cooked starch. Therefore, broader dietary interpretations and detection of cooked food are problematic. The study of ancient dental calculus holds great potential to recover information about past lives, within realistic parameters.