Trends in oral pathology of hunter-gatherers from Western Pampas, Argentina

Abstract

Oral health analysis is one of the principal bioarchaeological lines of investigation to evaluate the interaction between the dynamics of human communities in the past, their environment, and their social structure. These studies represent a relatively recent development in the study of native hunter-gatherers in Argentina. This paper focuses on oral pathology as a contribution to the understanding of the lifestyle diversity of these populations. A sample of human remains from the Chenque I site (Western Pampas, Central Argentina) was studied in order to identify differential patterns by sex, age-at-death, and location of the tooth in the arch. Six variables, considering both teeth and the alveolar tissue, were examined: caries, calculus, wear, periapical lesions, periodontal disease, and antemortem tooth loss. The results indicate that oral health deteriorated more in females. Some divergent patterns were also identified when compared with other contemporary bioarchaeological samples in the region. Both aspects are interpreted in the context of previous proposals that consider the characteristics of hunter-gatherers dynamics just before the Spanish conquest.