First molar size and wear within and among modern hunter-gatherers and agricultural populations

• DOI: 10.1016/j.jchb.2015.02.007
• Publication Date: 2015-05-05T16:45:15Z
• Authors: Katarzyna Górka; Alejandro Romero; Alejandro Pérez-P...
• Keywords: Male; First molar size; Home prehistòric; Hunting and gathering societies; Biología Celular; Humans; 0601 history and archaeology; Life Style; Anthropology, Cultural; 2. Zero hunger; Sex Characteristics; Caçadors i recol·lectors; Agriculture; 06 humanities and the arts; Dent molar; Adaptation, Physiological; Biological Evolution; Molar; Agricultural populations; Diet; Diet, Paleolithic; Hunter-gatherers; Female; Tooth Wear; Prehistoric man

Apart from reflecting modern human dental variation, differences in dental size among populations provide a means for studying continuous evolutionary processes and their mechanisms. Dental wear, on the other hand, has been widely used to infer dietary adaptations and variability among or within diverse ancient human populations. Few such studies have focused on modern foragers and farmers, however, and diverse methods have been used. This research aimed to apply a single, standardized, and systematic quantitative procedure to measure dental size and dentin exposure in order to analyze differences among several hunter-gatherer and agricultural populations from various environments and geographic origins. In particular, we focused on sexual dimorphism and intergroup differences in the upper and lower first molars. Results indicated no sexual dimorphism in molar size and wear within the studied populations. Despite the great ethnographic variation in subsistence strategies among these populations, our findings suggest that differences in sexual division of labor do not affect dietary wear patterns.