A macroscopic analysis of human dentition at late chalcolithic Çamlıbel Tarlası, North central Anatolia, with special reference to dietary and non-masticatory habits

Abstract

Çamlıbel Tarlası (3590–3470 cal BC) is a small farming settlement with metallurgical activity in north central Anatolia. Studies have demonstrated a direct relationship between diet, subsistence patterns, occupational habits and macrowear patterns and dental pathologies. In total 282 teeth from 26 individuals were macroscopically examined. The results showed that in many ways the inhabitants were typical of a Late Chalcolithic population with a subsistence based on mixed agriculture. Dental wear and pathologies were documented including abrasion, attrition, chipping, “cupping”, grooves, caries, calculus and enamel hypoplasias. There was also an interesting age-differentiated wear pattern, and purple/red discoloured teeth. These dental pathologies and lesions are hypothesised to have been the result of dietary and food processing habits such as the consumption of carbohydrates and the use of grinding stones. Habitual extra masticatory use during the manufacturing of lithics, metal, and fibre processing is also thought to have resulted in the observed dental lesions.