Microbotanical analyses of dental calculus and caries occurrence at Neolithic Tepecik-Çiftlik, Türkiye

Insights Into Diet and Oral Health

Dados Bibliográficos

ID7192532
AutoresCarlos G Santiago-Marrero (0000-0003-4811-9708, Institución Milá y Fontanals de Investigación en Humanidades, autor correspondente), Ali Metin Büyükkarakaya (0000-0002-7551-8440, Hacettepe University), Ezgi Küçükel (Ankara University), Jaroslav Řídký (0000-0001-8651-3496, Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Archaeology, Prague)
Ano2024
Volume17
Fascículo1
Data de publicação2024-12-23
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoArchaeological and Anthropological Sciences (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1866-9557 • E-ISSN: 1866-9565
EditoraSpringer Nature (PUBLISHER • SG)
DOI10.1007/s12520-024-02140-z
OpenAlexW4405702980
IdiomaEN
Referências citadas110

The transition to agriculture-based economies and sedentary lifeways during the Neolithic brought significant changes in oral health and diet. Despite the influence of physiological and cultural factors, the frequency of dental pathologies, such as caries and dental calculus, is a common consequence of carbohydrate-rich diets. Caries result from bacterial activity that transforms carbohydrates into lactic acid, leading to the demineralisation of tooth enamel. In contrast, dental calculus can trap and preserve biomolecules and microremains—such as phytoliths and starch grains—making it a valuable resource for investigating past diets and lifeways. Although microbotanical analyses of dental calculus and caries occurrence are common in archaeology, these methods are rarely applied together in the same case study. This paper presents the results of the analyses of microbotanical remains, such as phytoliths and starch grains, retrieved from dental calculus, as well as caries occurrence in 11 individuals from Tepecik-Çiftlik, a Neolithic settlement in southwestern Cappadocia, Turkey. Caries prevalence aligns with previous studies highlighting the poor oral health of the Neolithic Tepecik-Çiftlik community and suggests a high reliance on carbohydrate-rich diets. Microbotanical remains showed contrasting results, with phytoliths indicating the presence of cereals but an absence of starch grains of cereal origin. This lack of cereal starch grains could point towards the influence of culinary and foodway practices on the preservation and occurrence of microbotanical remains in dental calculus, variables often overlooked in the study of ancient diets. These findings contribute to our understanding of the lifeways and oral health of the Neolithic Tepecik-Çiftlik community while drawing attention to how foodways and culinary practices may influence or bias the archaeological record

Archaeology · Biology · Calculus (dental · Dental health · Geography · Oral health · Starch · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Dentistry · Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies · Medicine · Paleopathology and ancient diseases · Food Science