Patterns of Association Between Oral Health Status and Subsistence: A Study of Aboriginal Skeletal Populations from the Tennessee Valley Area

Abstract

The purpose of th i s study i s to i dent i fy subs i s tence a s soc i ated d i fferences i n cari es, peri odontal d i sease and attri t ion between two aborog i na l s ke l eta l samp l es from the Tennessee Va l l ey a rea . The hunter/gather samp l e empl oyed i n th i s s tudy dates from the Archa i c peri od ( 6000-500 B . C. ) a nd i s composed of i nd i v i dua l s from the Eva ( 6BN12 ), Cherry ( 84BN74 ) and Anderson ( 40WM9 ) s i tes . The Mi s s i s s i pp i an Dal l as focus ( 13001500 A. D . ) s i te of Toqua ( 40MR6 ) practi ced ma i ze agri cu l ture . Contrasts i n car i es frequency, l ocation on the tooth, and d i stri but ion a l ong t he tooth row were read i l y apparent . Cerv i ca l cari e s i n the posterior tooth row characteri zed t h e Archa i c samp l e . The pattern i s attri buted to the comb i ned effects of food i mpact i on and a ttri t ion expos i ng the vu l nerab l e cerv i x to bacteri a l ly produced demi nera lyzed aci ds . The Mi s s i s s i ppi an samp l e i s cha ra teri zed not on ly by a greater ca ri es frequency, but a wi de range of l ocations on the tooth a nd i n the tooth row . Attri t ion rates di ffer d rama t i ca l l y between the two samp l es . Th i s i s attri buted to the d i fference i n the amount of food process i ng undertaken between the two subs i s tence systems . Contrast­ i ng anterior to posterior wear gradi ents were not i dent i fi ed between the Archa i c and f4i s s i ss i pp i an samp le s . I t was hypothes i zed that i n a vari ed phys i ca l envi ronment, such as that i nhab i ted by the Archa i c sampl e , the sel ecti ve pressure was to u se the anteri or teeth as a tool . Anterior tooth wea r forms i nd i cati ve of tooth use, d i fferent i a ted the two samp l es . A un i que wea r form i n the Mi s s i s s i pp i an samp l e was i denti fied .

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