The Relationship between Crown Size and Complexity in Two Collections

Abstract

Many studies show human tooth crown sizeincreases with increasing crown complexity (i.e., extracusps, tubercles or grooves). Plio-Pleistocene hominidtooth size reduction has also incurred reduction incomplexity, which plays into many theories that attemptto explain this well known, sustained odontometricreduction. We correlated various types of tooth complexitywith measured tooth size in two collections: the widelyused ASU dental models (238 MD and BL dimensionsof 119 teeth involved in 19 post-incisor model plaques),and in Newton Plantation slave remains from Barbados(736 dimensions of 368 teeth from ca. 100 individualsconsisting of 8 post-canine types: mandibular premolarsand molars, and maxillary molars). Significant positivecorrelations show crown size and crown complexitydecrease together, thus either type of data might serve todocument this decline. However the degree and pattern ofthis positive correlation was distinct in the two samples.