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Resumo

Analysis of dentitions belonging to 324 prehistoric and protohistoric Aleuts, Eskimos and northern Indians, all of whom were regularly meat‐eaters, reveals a significant difference between Eskimos and Aleut‐Indians for a little known type of tooth wear. This wear is characterized by severe crushing and/or flaking of the crown surface of one or more teeth (termed 'pressure‐chipping'). It occurs chiefly in dentitions of high arctic Eskimos of Alaska, Canada, and Greenland, and significantly less often in the teeth of Kodiak Island Eskimos, Aleuts and northern Indians. Sex differences do not exist but pressure‐chipping occurs significantly more often in adult (21–x years) than in non‐adult (0–20 years) Eskimos. The exact mechanism(s) responsible for pressure‐chipping is unknown, although ethnographic accounts of Eskimo eating habits suggest that crushing of hard substances such as bone was involved. The severity of this wear could have contributed to the selection for, or preservation of, large and complex crowns in high arctic Eskimos. Pressure‐chipping is offered as evidence favoring the view that tooth size (longevity) may have had in the past some adaptive value.

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