Abstract
Dental calculus has been often considered as a consequence of dietary habits, mainly related to the post Neolitic agricultural development. The presence of fossilized bacteria in the Kebara 2 teeth, aged 60.000 years BP, and the similarity of oral pathologies in pre and post Neolithic samples confirm the multifactorial etiology of oral diseases in general and dental calculus in particular.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Brothwell, D.R., 1963.The macroscopic dental pathology of some earlier human populations. Pergamon Press, Oxford.
Brothwell, D.R., (ed).Dental Anthropology, Pergamon Press, Oxford.
Clarke, N.G., Carey, S.E., Srikandi, W., Hirsch, R.S., Leppard, P.I., 1986.Periodontal disease in ancient populations. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 71: 173–183.
Cochran, D.L., 1991.Bacteriologic monitoring of periodontal diseases: cultural, enzymatic, immunologic, and nucleic acid studies. Current Opinion in dentistry 1: 37–44.
Crovella, S., Ardito, G., 1994.Frequencies of oral pathologies in a sample of 767 non-human primates. Primates 35: 225–230.
Hartweg, R., 1945.Remarques sur la denture et statistiques sur la carie en France aux époques Prehistoriques et Proto-historiques. Bull. et Mem. Societé Anthropologique de Paris 6: 71–111.
Hildebolt, C.F., Molnar, S., 1991.Measurement and description of periodontal disease in anthropological studies. Advances in Dental Anthropology, pp. 225–240, Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Hillson, S.W., 1979.Diet and dental disease, World Archaeology 2: 147–162.
Kilgore, L., 1989.Dental pathologies in ten free-ranging Chimpanzees from Gombe National Park, Tanzania. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 80: 219–227.
Larsen, C.S., 1987.Bioarchaeological interpretations of subsistence economy and behavior from human skeletal remains. Advances in Archaeological Methods and Theory 10: 339–444.
Larsen, C.S., Shavit, R., Griffin, M.C., 1991.Dental caries evidence for dietary change. Advances in Dental Anthropology, pp. 179–202, Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Lovell, N.C., 1990.Skeletal and dental pathology of Free-Ranging Mountain Gorillas, American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 81: 399–412.
Molleson, T., 1994.The eloquent bones of Abu Hureyra. Scientific American 271: 60–65.
Phillips-Conroy, J.E., Hildebolt, C.F., Altmann, J., Jolly, C.J., Muruthi, P., 1993.Periodontal health in free-ranging baboons of Ethiopia and Kenya. American J. Physical Anthropology, 90: 359–371.
Ranney, R.R., 1991.Immunologic mechanisms of pathogenesis in periodontal diseases: an assessment. Journal of Periodontal Research, 26: 243–254.
Sieber, O.F., Lippman, G., 1980. In: Pearson, P.B., Greenwell, J.R. (eds.),Nutrition, Food and Man, University of Arizona Press, Tucson, pp. 21–37.
Smith, J.D., Genoways, H.H., and Knox Jones, J., 1977.Cranial and dental anomalies in three species of platyrrhine monkeys from Nicaragua. Folia Primatologica 28: 1–42.
Tillier, A.M., Arensburg, B., Rak, Y. and Vandermeersch, B., 1995. Middle Paleolithic dental caries: new evidence from Kebara (Mount Carmel, Israel). J. of Human Evolution 29: 189–192.
Turner, C.G., 1978.Dental caries and early Ecuadorian agriculture. American Antiquity, 43: 694–697.
Vandermeersch, B., Arensburg, B., Tillier, A.M., Rak, Y., Weiner, S., Spiers, M., and Aspillaga, E., 1994.Middle Paleolithic dental bacteria from Kebara, Israel. Complte Rendues Academie de Sciences Paris, 319(6):727–731.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Arensburg, B. Ancient dental calculus and diet. Hum. Evol. 11, 139–145 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02437397
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02437397