Joel D Irish
Biographic Data
| ID | 82021 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Joel D Irish |
| GIVEN NAMES | Joel D |
| FAMILY NAME | Irish |
| SIGNATURE | IRISH J D |
| AFFILIATIONS | Liverpool John Moores University |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-7857-8847 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 94 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 612 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 90 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 4 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1987 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 15 |
Early to Middle Holocene Hunter‐Fisher‐Gatherers From the Green Sahara (Gobero, Niger): Dental Evidence for Regional African Affinities
Dental morphology and ancient human dispersals within and out of Africa
We used traits from the Arizona State University Dental Anthropology System (ASUDAS) to investigate the Out-of-Africa II dispersal (∼70,000–50,000 BP) and biogeographic dynamics within the continent since the Late Pleistocene. Mean measure of divergence (MMD) distances from 32 recent global and five Early-Late Holocene African dental samples ( n = 3167 individuals) were compared with F ST distances from matched genetic samples ( n = 566), serving…
Do cultural and biological variation correspond in the Middle Nile Valley Neolithic? Some insights from dental morphology
Broad cultural similarities are apparent between Neolithic sites across the Middle Nile Valley, yet local variation may also be witnessed. The dearth of well-preserved skeletal assemblages in this region means that biological connections between populations, and thus potential modes for the transmission of material culture, are not well understood. Here, the authors compare dental morphological traits in five Neolithic cemeteries ( c . 5600–3800 …
Uniform, circular, and shallow enamel pitting in hominins: Prevalence, morphological associations, and potential taxonomic significance
This study explores a particular form of enamel pitting originally identified in Paranthropus robustus. We call this uniform, circular, and shallow (UCS) pitting to distinguish it from more irregular and nonuniform defects often associated with enamel hypoplasia. We pose the hypothesis that UCS pitting is unique to the genus Paranthropus. We test this by investigating hominin dental remains from the ca. 3.4 Ma to ca. 1.1 Ma fossiliferous sequence…
Ancient Burials at Upward Sun River, Central Alaska
In the late summer about 11,500 years ago, probably in the space of a few weeks, three young Paleoindian children died and were buried in a residential camp alongside Xasaa Na’ (Upward Sun River). An infant and neonate were buried together with associated funerary objects below a central cooking hearth, and later a ~three-year-old child was cremated and buried above the same feature. This article explores the lifeways of the Ancient Beringians th…
Double Teeth and Coexistent Anomalies: Examples From Continental Africa
OBJECTIVES: Whether gemination or fusion, double teeth are rare worldwide, including Africa based on few published data. New cases from the continent are tallied, and anomalies potentially associated with double teeth are identified. These findings should interest a range of dental researchers. METHODS: The presence of double teeth was recorded in 97 modern and premodern North and sub-Saharan African samples (5631 inds.). They and coexistent anom…
Sex-biased sampling may influence Homo naledi tooth size variation
Rasudas2: A New Iteration of the Application for Assessing the Population Affinity of Individuals by Tooth Crown and Root Morphology
The web-based application rASUDAS, originally based on data from "The Anthropology of Modern Human Teeth," has been refined since its inception in 2015, undergoing two significant updates. The initial alpha version included 12 crown and five root traits. The beta version expanded the list to 15 crown traits and six root traits. The latest iteration, rASUDAS2, has expanded to include four additional traits along with seven backup traits, allowing …
Poulton, Cheshire: The investigation of a rural chapel in an evolving medieval landscape
This article presents the results of the radiocarbon dating programme and interpretation of a medieval chapel and graveyard in Poulton, Cheshire. The structure was associated with a lost Cistercian Abbey of 12th-13th-century date, which was relocated to Staffordshire after c. 60 years. Extensive excavation has revealed a minimum of 783 interments, interpreted as the remains of the farming community who worked the land after the monks’ departure. …
Descriptive catalog of Homo naledi dental remains from the 2013 to 2015 excavations of the Dinaledi Chamber, site U.W. 101, within the Rising Star cave system, South Africa
World variation in three-rooted lower second molars and implications for the hominin fossil record
Medieval migrations and the birth of modern British peoples: A Craniometric Approach
Craniometric characteristics have long been used to reconstruct among-group variation, potential migration routes and ancestral origins. This study presents results of the comparison of 946 individuals from 16 British medieval sites using craniometric analyses. The purpose is to determine: 1) if observable cranial variation exists among British medieval groups, 2) whether it can best be detected from neurocranial or facial measurements, and 3) th…
Dental caries in wild primates: Interproximal cavities on anterior teeth
Dental caries has been reported in a variety of primates, although it is still considered rare in wild populations. In this study, 11 catarrhine primate taxa ( n = 339 individuals; 7946 teeth) were studied for the presence of caries. A differential diagnosis of lesions in interproximal regions of anterior teeth was undertaken, since they had been previously described as both carious and non‐carious in origin. Each permanent tooth was examined mac…
Dental insights into the biological affinities of the inhabitants of Gabati over a period of cultural transition
Relative tooth size, Bayesian inference, and Homo naledi
Phylogenetic analyses of relative tooth size yield information about evolutionary dental trends not previously reported in H. naledi and the other hominins. Moreover, with an appropriate model these data recovered plausible evolutionary relationships. Together, the findings support recent study suggesting H. naledi originated long before the geological date of the Dinaledi Chamber, from which the specimens under study were recovered
Chipping and wear patterns in extant primate and fossil hominin molars: Functional' cusps are associated with extensive wear but low levels of fracture
Paranthropus robustus tooth chipping patterns do not support regular hard food mastication
Ancient anomalies: Twinned and supernumerary incisors in a medieval Nubian
During the analysis of a skeletal assemblage from a medieval cemetery in Nubia (c. AD 500-1550), a young adult female with abnormally developed maxillary incisors was discovered. The possible causes of the two dental anomalies found in this individual and their archaeological context are discussed. The remains are from a medieval assemblage from the Fourth Cataract region of Nubia, which forms part of the Nubian collection curated at the British …
Tooth transposition prevalence and type among sub‐Saharan Africans
OBJECTIVES: Although rare, tooth transposition-an exchange in location of two teeth-is a frequent topic of study. Clinical and, to a much lesser extent, dental anthropological research have focused predominantly on prevalence (0.03%-0.74% in several world populations) and case studies, albeit on a restricted spatiotemporal scale. Many regions have received little attention, including sub-Saharan Africa, while premodern data are few. Here, the aim…
Recording and interpreting enamel hypoplasia in samples from archaeological and palaeoanthropological contexts
Do dental nonmetric traits actually work as proxies for neutral genomic data? Some answers from continental‐ and global‐level analyses
Objectives Crown and root traits, like those in the Arizona State University Dental Anthropology System (ASUDAS), are seemingly useful as genetic proxies. However, recent studies report mixed results concerning their heritability, and ability to assess variation to the level of genomic data. The aim is to test further if such traits can approximate genetic relatedness, among continental and global samples. Materials and Methods First, for 12 Afri…
The functional significance of dental and mandibular reduction in Homo: A catarrhine perspective
The reduction in dental size and mandibular robusticity is regarded as a major trend in human evolution, traditionally considered the result of the peculiar extra-oral food processing skills of Homo. The use of stone tools and fire would have allowed our ancestors to chew softer food in smaller bite size, thus relaxing the selective pressures to keep a large dentition and a robust lower jaw. This perspective assumes that differences in dental siz…
Periapical lesions in hominids: Abscesses on the maxilla of a 2 million‐year‐old early Homo specimen
Periapical lesions can develop after exposure of a tooth's pulp chamber and are commonly associated with heavy crown wear, trauma, or caries. In this study, maxilla and mandible fragments from the South African fossil hominin collections were studied, including specimens assigned to Homo naledi , Paranthropus robustus , Australopithecus africanus , and early Homo . Gorilla gorilla gorilla , Pan troglodytes , and Homo sapiens were also studied for…
Health and safety issues in the Victorian workplace: An example of mandibular phosphorus necrosis from Gloucester, UK
Working conditions in factories during the Industrial Era in Great Britain have been linked to numerous occupational diseases. In this paper, the authors present a case study from Victorian Gloucester, where skeletal remains of a young male recovered from the Southgate Street 3/89 excavation exhibit osteonecrosis on the left mandibular ramus, a condition known as “phossy jaw.” The case is examined in terms of macroscopic characteristics, distribu…
Root caries on a Paranthropus robustus third molar from Drimolen
OBJECTIVES: Dental caries is often perceived as a modern human disease. However, their presence is documented in many early human groups, various nonhuman primates and, increasingly, our hominin ancestors and relatives. In this study, we describe an antemortem lesion on the root of a Paranthropus robustus third molar from Drimolen, South Africa, which likely represents another example of caries in fossil hominins. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The molar…
Population continuity vs. discontinuity revisited: Dental affinities among late Paleolithic through Christian‐era Nubians
The present study revisits a subject that has been a source of long‐standing bioarchaeological contention, namely, estimation of Nubian population origins and affinities. Using the Arizona State University dental anthropology system, frequencies of 36 crown, root, and intraoral osseous discrete traits in 12 late Pleistocene through early historic Nubian samples were recorded and analyzed. Specifically, intersample phenetic affinities, and an indi…
Ancient teeth and modern human origins: An expanded comparison of African Plio-Pleistocene and recent world dental samples
Who were the ancient Egyptians? Dental affinities among Neolithic through postdynastic peoples
Qualitative and quantitative methods are employed to describe and compare up to 36 dental morphological variants in 15 Neolithic through Roman‐period Egyptian samples. Trait frequencies are determined, and phenetic affinities are calculated using the mean measure of divergence and Mahalanobis D 2 statistics for discrete traits; the most important traits in generating this intersample variation are identified with correspondence analysis. Assuming…
Ancestral dental traits in recent Sub-Saharan Africans and the origins of modern humans
The Iberomaurusian enigma: North African progenitor or dead end
The Bioarchaeology of Kinship: Proposed Revisions to Assumptions Guiding Interpretation
Bioarchaeology provides sophisticated techniques for estimating intra- and intercemetery biological relationships (i.e., biodistances), which can significantly expand anthropological research on kinship, explaining multiple dimensions of social life and identity in prehistory. However, some assumptions guiding the interpretation of results may need reconsideration. Although it is often assumed that descent groups should be homogeneous, social org…
Brief communication: Early hominin variability in first molar dental trait frequencies
This report documents greater variability in early hominin first molar dental trait frequencies than previous research indicated. Specifically, frequencies of several M1 dental traits that previously appeared to uniquely characterize Paranthropus are shown here to resemble those of the A. afarensis sample from Hadar. Like Paranthropus, A. afarensis from Hadar has a high frequency of cusp 6 and a low frequency of the protostylid. Paranthropus and …
Dental morphological affinities of Late Pleistocene through recent sub-Saharan and north African peoples
Irish Joel D. Dental morphological affinities of Late Pleistocene through recent sub-Saharan and north African peoples. In: Bulletins et Mémoires de la Société d'anthropologie de Paris, Nouvelle Série. Tome 10 fascicule 3-4, 1998. pp. 237-272
Recording and interpreting enamel hypoplasia in samples from archaeological and palaeoanthropological contexts
Do nuclear DNA and dental nonmetric data produce similar reconstructions of regional population history? An example from modern coastal K enya
This study investigates whether variants in dental morphology and nuclear DNA provide similar patterns of intergroup affinity among regional populations using biological distance (biodistance) estimates. Many biodistance studies of archaeological populations use skeletal variants in lieu of ancient DNA, based on the widely accepted assumption of a strong correlation between phenetic‐ and genetic‐based affinities. Within studies of dental morpholo…
Morphological and metrical comparison of San and Central Sotho dentitions from southern Africa
Comparative morphological and metrical study of San and Central Sotho dentitions indicates that the teeth of the two samples are significantly different from one another. The San dental complex contains traits that add mass to the occlusal surface of microdontic dentitions: moderate low‐grade UI1 (13.5%) and UI2 shoveling (24.7), high Bushman canine (43.1%), fairly low UM2 hypocone reduction (23.3%), high UM2 cusp 5 (55.6%), high LM1 cusp 7 (35.2…
A late Magdalenian perinatal human skeleton from Wilczyce, Poland
Behavioral inferences from the high levels of dental chipping in Homo naledi
OBJECTIVES: A variety of mechanical processes can result in antemortem dental chipping. In this study, chipping data in the teeth of Homo naledi are compared with those of other pertinent dental samples to give insight into their etiology. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Permanent teeth with complete crowns evidencing occlusal wear were examined macroscopically. The location, number, and severity of fractures were recorded and compared to those found in s…
Hypoplastic area method for analyzing dental enamel hypoplasia
Most analyses of dental enamel hypoplasia compare frequencies of disturbed tooth types, which do not account for variability in the area of affected enamel. An alternate methodology, hypoplastic area, is presented here that accounts for this variability by combining acute and continuous enamel hypoplasia into an interval‐level variable. The method compares samples based on individuals, by multiple tooth type variables, or by a single value rather…
Do dental nonmetric traits actually work as proxies for neutral genomic data? Some answers from continental‐ and global‐level analyses
Objectives Crown and root traits, like those in the Arizona State University Dental Anthropology System (ASUDAS), are seemingly useful as genetic proxies. However, recent studies report mixed results concerning their heritability, and ability to assess variation to the level of genomic data. The aim is to test further if such traits can approximate genetic relatedness, among continental and global samples. Materials and Methods First, for 12 Afri…
Ancient teeth, phenetic affinities, and African hominins: Another look at where Homo naledi fits in
Questions of khoesan continuity: Dental affinities among the indigenous holocene peoples of South Africa
The present report follows up on the findings of previous research, including recent bioarchaeological study of well‐dated Khoesan skeletal remains, that posits long term biological continuity among the indigenous peoples of South Africa after the Pleistocene. The Arizona State University Dental Anthropology System was used to record key crown, root, and intraoral osseous nonmetric traits in six early‐through‐late Holocene samples from the Cape c…
More lingual surface attrition of the maxillary anterior teeth in American Indians: Prehistoric panamanians
Lingual surface attrition of the maxillary anterior teeth (LSA‐MAT) has been found in additional prehistoric Latin American Indian skeletons. LSAMAT was first observed in crania from an Archaic Brazilian site. This second finding occurs in teeth from Venado Beach, a late prehistoric site in Panama. LSAMAT is also present in some fragmentary specimens from the Archaic Cerro Mangote site in Panama. LSAMAT at Venado Beach is present in 57% of 28 adu…
Rasudas: A New Web-Based Application for Estimating Ancestry from Tooth Morphology
The use of crown and root morphology to estimate population relationships has a long history in dental anthropology. Over the past two decades, methods employing dental morphology within forensic anthropology have been formalized with the incorporation of statistical models. This paper presents a new web-based application (rASUDAS) that estimates the ancestry of unknown individuals based on their suite of tooth crown and root traits. The applicat…
The ancient inhabitants of Jebel Moya redux: Measures of Population Affinity Based on Dental Morphology
This paper reexamines some of the methods and craniometric findings in the classic volume The Ancient Inhabitants of Jebel Moya (Sudan) (1955) by Mukherjee, Rao & Trevor, in light of recent archaeological data and relative to a new dental morphological study. Archaeological evidence characterises these inhabitants as having been heavily influenced by outside sources; yet they managed to establish and maintain their own distinctive culture as seen…
Who were they really? model‐free and model‐bound dental nonmetric analyses to affirm documented population affiliations of seven S outh A frican “Bantu” samples
OBJECTIVES: For bioarchaeological biodistance analyses it is common to "assume" that skeletal samples are representative of the populations to which they are attributed. Here, alternatively, samples with "known" attribution in the Raymond A. Dart Collection are assessed regarding their suitability for use in such analyses. Prior curation issues may call their ascribed identities into question. MATERIALS AND METHODS: These 20th century samples ost…
Further analysis of the population history of ancient Egyptians
The origins of state formation in ancient Egypt have been the focus of recent research utilizing biological data to test hypotheses regarding in situ development of local groups, or large‐scale in‐migration, possibly by an invading army. The primary goal of the present research is to further test these hypotheses. Our secondary goal is to compare different distance measures and assess how they might affect interpretation of population history. We…
Discovery of the first Neolithic cemetery in Egypt’s western desert
The authors report the discovery of a cemetery of richly furnished graves in the western desert of south Egypt. Artefacts, burial rites and radiocarbon dates relate the cemetery to pastoralists practising transhumance in the later Neolithic period. The first such cemetery to be investigated, its cultural affiliations offer a pre-echo of what would become the Egyptian civilisation
Dying to serve: The mass burials at Kerma
High ranking burial mounds in Bronze Age Sudan featured burials in a corridor leading to the central burial - supposedly of a king. Were the 'corridor people' prisoners captured during periodic raids on Egypt, or local retainers who followed their king in death? The authors use the skeletal material to argue the second hypothesis - coincidentally that advanced by George Reisner, the original excavator
The apportionment of tooth size and its implications in Australopithecus sediba versus other Plio‐pleistocene and recent African hominins
Objectives Australopithecus sediba is characterized further by providing formerly unpublished and refined mesiodistal and buccolingual crown measurements in the MH1 and MH2 specimens. After size correction, these data were compared with those in other fossil and recent samples to facilitate additional insight into diachronic hominin affinities. Materials and Methods Six comparative samples consist of fossil species: A. africanus, A. afarensis, Ho…
More lingual surface attrition of the maxillary anterior teeth in American Indians: Prehistoric panamanians
Lingual surface attrition of the maxillary anterior teeth (LSA‐MAT) has been found in additional prehistoric Latin American Indian skeletons. LSAMAT was first observed in crania from an Archaic Brazilian site. This second finding occurs in teeth from Venado Beach, a late prehistoric site in Panama. LSAMAT is also present in some fragmentary specimens from the Archaic Cerro Mangote site in Panama. LSAMAT at Venado Beach is present in 57% of 28 adu…
Morphological and metrical comparison of San and Central Sotho dentitions from southern Africa
Comparative morphological and metrical study of San and Central Sotho dentitions indicates that the teeth of the two samples are significantly different from one another. The San dental complex contains traits that add mass to the occlusal surface of microdontic dentitions: moderate low‐grade UI1 (13.5%) and UI2 shoveling (24.7), high Bushman canine (43.1%), fairly low UM2 hypocone reduction (23.3%), high UM2 cusp 5 (55.6%), high LM1 cusp 7 (35.2…
The Bushman Maxillary Canine of the Chewa Tribe in East-Central Africa
The expression of the Bushman Canine dental trait among the Chewa tribe of East-Central Africa is described and compared with that of other African populations. Dental hard stone casts were obtained from 82 males and 76 females, and the trait was scored using the Arizona State University dental plaque system. No significant sexual dimorphism in the occurrence of the trait was found according to the chi-square test. The frequency of the Bushman Ca…
Reply to Robb, Cruwys, and Smith, with additional remarks on LSAMAT
Hypoplastic area method for analyzing dental enamel hypoplasia
Most analyses of dental enamel hypoplasia compare frequencies of disturbed tooth types, which do not account for variability in the area of affected enamel. An alternate methodology, hypoplastic area, is presented here that accounts for this variability by combining acute and continuous enamel hypoplasia into an interval‐level variable. The method compares samples based on individuals, by multiple tooth type variables, or by a single value rather…
Technical note: Canine Mesial Ridge (Bushman Canine) dental trait definition
The Human Biology of the English Village . G. Ainsworth Harrison
Reply to Blakey and Armelagos, with additional remarks on the hypoplastic area method
Reply to Blakey and Armelagos, with additional remarks on the hypoplastic area method
Brief communication: First evidence of LSAMAT in non‐native Americans: Historic Senegalese from West Africa
To date, the distinctive dental wear pattern known as LSAMAT, or “lingual surface attrition of the maxillary anterior teeth,” has been documented in prehistoric samples from Brazil, Panama, and Puerto Rico only. However, new data from a historic Senegalese sample reveals the first example of this wear pattern outside the Americas. The Senegal LSAMAT is present in 45% of 22 adult crania, and is associated with a caries rate of 40% in 38 adults (6.…
Brief communication: First evidence of LSAMAT in non-native Americans: Historic Senegalese from West Africa
To date, the distinctive dental wear pattern known as LSAMAT, or "lingual surface attrition of the maxillary anterior teeth," has been documented in prehistoric samples from Brazil, Panama, and Puerto Rico only. However, new data from a historic Senegalese sample reveals the first example of this wear pattern outside the Americas. The Senegal LSAMAT is present in 45% of 22 adult crania, and is associated with a caries rate of 40% in 38 adults (6.…
Buried in Haste: Historic Interments from Governors Island, New York
Data recovery investigations conducted by Louis Berger & Associates, Inc. at the U.S. Coast Guard Support Center, Governors Island, New York, recovered evidence of a heretofore undocumented late-18th to early-19th century cemetery outside of Castle Williams. Subsurface investigations were conducted to address questions related to the nature, context, and extent of human remains encountered during the excavation of an electrical utility trench in …
Characteristic high- and low-frequency dental traits in sub-Saharan African populations
In an earlier investigation (Irish [1993] Biological Affinities of Late Pleistocene Through Modern African Aboriginal Populations: The Dental Evidence [Ann Arbor: University Microfilms]), biological affinities of 32 sub-Saharan and North African dental samples were estimated using comparative analyses of 36 dental morphological traits. Marked dental homogeneity was revealed among samples within each of the two geographic regions, but significant …
Characteristic high‐ and low‐frequency dental traits in sub‐Saharan African populations
In an earlier investigation (Irish [1993] Biological Affinities of Late Pleistocene Through Modern African Aboriginal Populations: The Dental Evidence [Ann Arbor: University Microfilms]), biological affinities of 32 sub-Saharan and North African dental samples were estimated using comparative analyses of 36 dental morphological traits. Marked dental homogeneity was revealed among samples within each of the two geographic regions, but significant …
Journal of Caribbean Studies Special Issue: Health and Disease in the Caribbean, Vol. 12, No. 1 . R. A. Halberstein
Ancestral dental traits in recent Sub-Saharan Africans and the origins of modern humans
U New Mexico for the Record
Dental morphological affinities of Late Pleistocene through recent sub-Saharan and north African peoples
Irish Joel D. Dental morphological affinities of Late Pleistocene through recent sub-Saharan and north African peoples. In: Bulletins et Mémoires de la Société d'anthropologie de Paris, Nouvelle Série. Tome 10 fascicule 3-4, 1998. pp. 237-272
Human Adaptability: Past, Present, and Future . S. J. Ulijaszek , R. A. Huss-Ashmore
The Iberomaurusian enigma: North African progenitor or dead end
Canary islands-north African population affinities: Measures of divergence based on dental morphology
Human Skeletal Remains from Three Nabta Playa Sites
Neolithic Tooth Replacement in Two Disturbed Burials from Southern Egypt
Ancient teeth and modern human origins: An expanded comparison of African Plio-Pleistocene and recent world dental samples
Palatine torus in the pre-conquest inhabitants of the Canary Islands
Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies (64 works) · Geography (57 works) · Biology (53 works) · Archaeology (46 works) · Demography (34 works) · History (33 works) · Sociology (32 works) · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology (30 works) · Forensic and Genetic Research (28 works) · Medicine (27 works)