Implications of tooth root hypercementosis in a Barbados slave skeletal collection

Bibliographic Data

ID8321355
AuthorsRobert S Corruccini (Southern Illinois University Carbondale), Keith P Jacobi (Southern Illinois University Carbondale), Jerome S Handler (Southern Illinois University Carbondale), Arthur C Aufderheide (University of Minnesota, Duluth)
Year1987
Volume74
Issue2
Pages179-184
Publication date1987-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Physical Anthropology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0002-9483 • E-ISSN: 1096-8644
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/ajpa.1330740206
PMID3322025
OpenAlexW2038346715
LanguageEN
Citations received24
References cited40

A 17th‐ to 19th‐century cemetery sample of 104 slaves from Newton Plantation (Barbados) shows uniquely high hypercementosis prevalence, as well as unexpectedly high and variable skeletal lead content. A variety of biological and archeological factors indicates that individuals with lower amounts of these anomalies (relative to age at death) were probably African‐born, first‐generation slaves. The hypercementosis is related to the progression of periodontal disease as assessed from alveolar bone. Although the hypercementosis is endemic in the Caribbean black population, it does not as yet have a clear explanation. We suggest the etiology might relate to chronic malnutrition involving periodic, seasonal rehabilitation

Environmental health · Etiology · Geography · Malnutrition · Oral health · Pathology · Population · Sociology · Tooth loss · Demography · Dentistry · Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies · Historical and Cultural Archaeology Studies · Medicine · Osteomyelitis and Bone Disorders Research