Dental caries at Lapa do Santo, central-eastern Brazil: an Early Holocene archaeological site



Título del documento: Dental caries at Lapa do Santo, central-eastern Brazil: an Early Holocene archaeological site
Revista: Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciencias
Base de datos: PERIÓDICA
Número de sistema: 000418092
ISSN: 0001-3765
Autores: 1
1
1
Instituciones: 1Universidade de Sao Paulo, Instituto de Biociencias, Sao Paulo. Brasil
Año:
Periodo: Mar
Volumen: 89
Número: 1
Paginación: 307-316
País: Brasil
Idioma: Inglés
Tipo de documento: Artículo
Enfoque: Experimental, aplicado
Resumen en inglés The origin and dispersion of the first Americans have been extensively investigated from morphological and genetic perspectives, but few studies have focused on their health and lifestyle. The archaeological site of Lapa do Santo, central-eastern Brazil, has exceptionally preserved Early Holocene human skeletons, providing 19 individuals with 327 permanent and 122 deciduous teeth dated to 9,250 to 7,500 years BP. In this study, we test whether the inhabitants of Lapa do Santo had high prevalence of dental caries as previous studies of Lagoa Santa collection have indicated, using individual and tooth as units of analyses. The results show a high prevalence of dental caries in the permanent dentition (5.50%, n=327 teeth; 69.23%, n=13 individuals) compared to other samples of hunter-gatherers worldwide. In addition, dental caries in deciduous teeth start occurring as early as 3 to 4 years old, suggesting an early start to caries. Compared with other samples from Lagoa Santa, Lapa do Santo shows statistically similar prevalence of overall caries but different caries location pattern. We believe that a subsistence adaptation to a tropical environment rich in sources of carbohydrates, such as fruits, is the best explanation for the overall caries prevalence
Disciplinas: Medicina,
Antropología
Palabras clave: Odontología,
Bioarqueología,
Caries,
Holoceno
Keyword: Dentistry,
Bioarchaeology,
Caries,
Holocene
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