Enamel erosion and mechanical tooth wear in medieval Icelanders.

OBJECTIVES: The Icelandic Sagas are an important source of information on the way of life and diet habits in Iceland and possibly other Nordic countries 1000 years ago. Archaeological human skull material worldwide has revealed extensive tooth wear, with the main cause believed to be coarse diet. From a graveyard near volcano Hekla, 66 skeletons dated from before 1104 were excavated. The purpose of this study was to determine the main causes of tooth wear in Icelanders 1000 years ago. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty-nine skulls were available for research. Two methods were used to evaluate tooth wear and seven for age estimation. An attempt was made to determine the main causes of tooth wear in the light of likely diet and beverage consumption according to a computer search on food and drink customs described in the Icelandic Sagas. RESULTS: Tooth wear was extensive in all groups, increasing with age. The highest score was on first molars, with no difference between sexes. It had all the similarities seen in wear from coarse diet. In some instances it had similar characteristics to those seen in erosion in modern Icelanders consuming excessive amounts of soft drinks. According to the Sagas, acidic whey was a daily drink and used for preservation of food in Iceland until recently. CONCLUSIONS: Since acidic whey has considerably high dental erosive potential, it is postulated that consumption of acidic drinks and food, in addition to a coarse and rough diet, played a significant role in the dental wear of ancient Icelanders.

Paleoenvironmental context of the Middle Stone Age record from Karungu, Lake Victoria Basin, Kenya, and its implications for human and faunal dispersals in East Africa.

The opening and closing of the equatorial East African forest belt during the Quaternary is thought to have influenced the biogeographic histories of early modern humans and fauna, although precise details are scarce due to a lack of archaeological and paleontological records associated with paleoenvironmental data. With this in mind, we provide a description and paleoenvironmental reconstruction of the Late Pleistocene Middle Stone Age (MSA) artifact- and fossil-bearing sediments from Karungu, located along the shores of Lake Victoria in western Kenya. Artifacts recovered from surveys and controlled excavations are typologically MSA and include points, blades, and Levallois flakes and cores, as well as obsidian flakes similar in geochemical composition to documented sources near Lake Naivasha (250 km east). A combination of sedimentological, paleontological, and stable isotopic evidence indicates a semi-arid environment characterized by seasonal precipitation and the dominance of C4 grasslands, likely associated with a substantial reduction in Lake Victoria. The well-preserved fossil assemblage indicates that these conditions are associated with the convergence of historically allopatric ungulates from north and south of the equator, in agreement with predictions from genetic observations. Analysis of the East African MSA record reveals previously unrecognized north-south variation in assemblage composition that is consistent with episodes of population fragmentation during phases of limited dispersal potential. The grassland-associated MSA assemblages from Karungu and nearby Rusinga Island are characterized by a combination of artifact types that is more typical of northern sites. This may reflect the dispersal of behavioral repertoires-and perhaps human populations-during a paleoenvironmental phase dominated by grasslands.

[Dental care, dental diseases and dentistry in antiquity]. / Fogapolás, fogbetegségek és fogászati beavatkozások az ókorban.

Numerous written relicts, belletristic works (poems of Martial, Juvenal, Ovid etc.) indicate that oral hygiene and its tools (toothbrush, toothpick, use of tooth pastes and tooth-powder) were used long before our times. Already ancient people started to remove, file, dye and inlay teeth. The teeth were dyed red, green or black in Egypt, red or brown (with henna or betel) in India, white by Romans. The teeth decoration has a long but forgotten history. The most skillful and artistic work was done by the Maya's between 900 BC and 1500 AD. The modification of contours (more than fifty forms) of the incisors were practiced also in Mesoamerica. Dentistry was surely practiced in ancient Egypt, India, China, Greece and Rome, while odontology and especially suitable dental appliances arose only by Etruscan. Dental prosthesis, including bridges and simple retention bands were invented by the Etruscans 2500 years ago. These Etruscan bridges were worn mostly by females, suggesting that cosmetics was the principal dental concern. Some,--if not all--of the Roman and other prostheses have been purely ornamental. Orthodontic appliances are also Etruscan invention. The holes caused by caries were filled with garlic, incense, caraway seed in Egypt, with wood or lead in Rome, and with "silver-paste" (amalgam) in ancient China. The toothache was cured with poppy-tee, or hashish and nightshade plants (Solanaceae) in Egypt, Greece, Roman Empire while with coca (Erythroxylon coca) in South-America.

Additional material of the enigmatic Early Miocene mammal Kelba and its relationship to the order Ptolemaiida.

Kelba quadeemae, a fossil mammal from the Early Miocene of East Africa, was originally named on the basis of three isolated upper molars. Kelba has previously been interpreted as a creodont, a pantolestid, an insectivoran, and a hemigaline viverrid. The true affinities of this taxon have remained unclear because of the limited material and its unique morphology relative to other Miocene African mammals. New material of Kelba from several East African Miocene localities, most notably a skull from the Early Miocene locality of Songhor in Western Kenya, permits analysis of the affinities of Kelba and documents the lower dentition of this taxon. Morphological comparison of this new material clearly demonstrates that Kelba is a member of the order Ptolemaiida, a poorly understood group whose fossil record was previously restricted to the Oligocene Fayum deposits of northern Egypt. Phylogenetic analysis supports the monophyly of the Ptolemaiida, including Kelba, and recovers two monophyletic clades within the order. We provide new family names for these groups and an emended diagnosis for the order. The discovery of ptolemaiidans from the Miocene of East Africa is significant because it extends the known temporal range of the order by >10 million years and the geographic range by >3,200 km. Although the higher-level affinities of the Ptolemaiida remain obscure, their unique morphology and distribution through a larger area of Africa (and exclusively Africa) lend support to the idea that Ptolemaiida may have an ancient African origin.

Paléontologie(s) et évolution au début du XIXe siècle cuvier et Lamarck

La paleontología, desde su nacimiento, ha sido llamada a suministrar argumentos a favor y contra la teoría de la Evolución, que nació en la misma época. En efecto, Cuvier y Lamarck, los dos fundadores de la (de las) paleontología (s) -de los vertebrados y de los invertebrados-, utilizaron las decenas de fósiles que descubrieron como "piezas justificativas" de sus teorías. Sus artículos polemizaron contradictoriamente en páginas sucesivas de la misma revista, los Annales du muséum d'Histoire naturelle de París, y en sus obras de principios del siglo XIX (AU)

La paléontologie, dès sa naissance, a été appelée à fournir des arguments pour ou contre la théorie de l'Évolution, qui venait aussi de naître à la même époque. En effet, Cuvier et Lamarck, les deux fondateurs de la (des) paléontologie(s) -celle des vertébrés et celle des invertébrés- ont utilisé les dizaines de fossiles qu'ils ont mis au jour comme «pièces justificatives» de leurs théories. Leurs articles se sont répondu contradictoirement dans les pages successives de la même revue, les Annales du Muséum d'Histoire naturelle de Paris, et dans leurs oeuvres du début du XIXe siècle

Los albores de la profesión: odontología entre los Etruscos (trad) / The dawn of dentistry: dentistry among the Etruscans

Los etruscos constituían un grupo de pueblos agricultores que evolucionaron hacia una población urbana de artesanos, comerciantes y navegantes, que vivieron en una red de ciudades y dominaron el área del Mediterráneo alrededor de Italia en los siglos VIII y IX a C. Lo que se ha descubierto, y es de importancia para nuestro estudio de la historia de la Odontología, es una gran cantidad de obras de arte muy interesantes que incluyen prótesis dentales de oro. Las prótesis etruscas son notables porque utilizan bandas de oro que fueron soldadas en anillos en vez de los alambres de oro que se ven en otras culturas de la misma época (fenicia, egipcia)

Los albores de la profesión: odontología entre los Etruscos (trad) / The dawn of dentistry: dentistry among the Etruscans

Los etruscos constituían un grupo de pueblos agricultores que evolucionaron hacia una población urbana de artesanos, comerciantes y navegantes, que vivieron en una red de ciudades y dominaron el área del Mediterráneo alrededor de Italia en los siglos VIII y IX a C. Lo que se ha descubierto, y es de importancia para nuestro estudio de la historia de la Odontología, es una gran cantidad de obras de arte muy interesantes que incluyen prótesis dentales de oro. Las prótesis etruscas son notables porque utilizan bandas de oro que fueron soldadas en anillos en vez de los alambres de oro que se ven en otras culturas de la misma época (fenicia, egipcia) (AU)

Richard Owen and the comparative anatomy of teeth.

One hundred fifty years ago, Richard Owen published the first detailed monograph on the comparative anatomy of teeth entitled Odontography; or, A Treatise on the Comparative Anatomy of the Teeth; their Physiological Relations, Mode of Development, and Microscopic Structure, in the Vertebrate Animals. The treatise is considered to be the first fundamental work of odontology. The 150th anniversary of its publication is an appropriate time to rediscover the roots and development of this scientific discipline, as well as the life and work of its author.

[Paleodontologic study of skeletal findings at Takht-i Suleiman, West Iran]. / Paläondontologische Untersuchung der Skelettfunde vom Takht-i Suleiman, West-Iran.

Within this paleodontological study 26 Achemenid and 8 Islamic skeletons from the excavations at Tahkt-i Suleiman (Western Iran) were investigated. The diagnosis of age and sex was done repeatedly according to various methods. The adult Achemenids reached an average age of 54.4 years (n = 16; SD = +/- 9.9 y), while the Islamic adult individuals reached a lifespan of 36.9 (n = 8; SD = +/- 11.0 y). The skeletons of the Achemenid children had an average of 6.8 years (n = 9; SD = +/- 3.3 y). In the specific dental investigations the teeth of all skeletons were checked for missing teeth or dental diseases or alterations of the jaws. For the whole series intravital loss of 19.3% of the teeth was found. 21.6% of the teeth were lost postmortally. The intravital loss of single teeth was 21.9% in the Achemenid teeth, disregarding the wisdom tooth and Dentes decidui; the respective value was 12% in the Islamic skeletons. The investigation for caries yielded a morbidity of 50% in the Achemenid skeletons, and 57% in the Islamic teeth. The frequency of caries was 6.2% in Achemenids and 9% in Islamic individuals. In the Dentes decidui the frequency of caries was found to be 3.6%. Dental tartar was present in 44.8% of the teeth, 42% of Achemenid teeth and 58% of Islamic teeth being affected. 33% of all teeth showed garlands of dental tartar. Signs of parodontolysis were investigated considering the health of the individual and the preservation of the skeleton. All adult teeth showed age-dependent parodontolysis, the means of which were quantified.