Oral stress and paleodiet changes among hunter-gatherers from Negro river (northern Patagonia, Argentina), during the late Holocene

FLENSBORG, G.; A. SERNA; L. PRATES

International Journal of Osteoarchaeology

John Wiley & Sons Inc.

Año: 2019

1099-1212

he objective of this work is to evaluate temporal variation of dento‐alveolar lesionsin hunter‐gatherer groups who inhabited the middle course of the Negro River duringthe late Holocene (ca. 3000‐750 years BP) in order to discuss cultural practices andchanges in the paleodiet. Caries, dental calculus, periodontal disease, periapicallesions, antemortem tooth loss, tooth wear, dislocation, and osteoarthrosic lesions inthe temporomandibular joint were analysed. The sample is represented by 567 teethand 547 alveoli, corresponding to 32 adult and subadult individuals, who were dividedinto two periods for comparative purposes: pre‐1000 and post‐1000 BP. The resultsindicate a low prevalence of oral lesions without differences between sex and age.In the pre‐1000 BP period, there is a larger frequency of antemortem tooth loss,parafunctional wear of the anterior teeth, dental dislocations, and osteoarthrosis inthe mandibular condyles compared with the post‐1000 period. This tendencyindicates that the individuals would have been exposed to greater stress in chewing.However, the variations were not significant, so there is no clear evidence of changesin the diet and particularly in carbohydrate and plant intake through thelate Holocene. Severe tooth wear is the main factor that caused some pathologies(e.g., antemortem tooth loss), and limited the development of others (e.g., caries).The results obtained here agree with other microregions from northeastern Patagoniaand differ from Humid Pampas, eastern Pampa‐Patagonian transition, and lowercourse of the Negro River due to differences in carbohydrate consumption in the lastca. 1000 years BP.