Using perikymata to estimate the duration of growth disruptions in fossil hominin teeth: issues of methodology and interpretation

doi:10.1017/CBO9780511542442.004

4 - Using perikymata to estimate the duration of growth disruptions in fossil hominin teeth: issues of methodology and interpretation

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 September 2009

Debbie Guatelli-Steinberg

Edited by

Joel D. Irish and

Greg C. Nelson

Show author details

Debbie Guatelli-Steinberg: Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology 244 Lord Hall, 124 West 17th Avenue, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210, USA
Joel D. Irish: Affiliation:
University of Alaska, Fairbanks
Greg C. Nelson: Affiliation:
University of Oregon

Book contents

Get access

Summary

Introduction

Enamel hypoplasias are developmental defects of tooth enamel taking the form of pits, horizontal lines, grooves, or, occasionally, altogether missing enamel (FDI DDE Index, 1982, 1992). These defects result from disturbances to ameloblasts (enamel-producing cells) during the secretory phase of enamel formation (Goodman and Rose, 1990; Ten Cate, 1994). When systemic physiological stress, such as malnutrition or illness, disturbs enamel formation, all crowns forming during the period of stress are likely to develop enamel hypoplasias (Hillson, 1996). Once formed, these defects become permanent features of the crown, unless worn away by abrasion or attrition. For these reasons, and because teeth are the most abundant of skeletal remains (Hillson, 1996), enamel hypoplasias have become one of the most important sources of information about systemic physiological stress in fossil hominins (Bailey and Hublin, 2006; Bombin, 1990; Brennan, 1991; Brunet et al., 2002; Guatelli-Steinberg 2003, 2004; Guatelli-Steinberg et al., 2004; Hutchinson et al., 1997; Moggi-Cecchi, 2000; Molnar and Molnar, 1985; Ogilvie et al., 1989; Tobias, 1991; White, 1978).

Linear enamel hypoplasia (LEH) is the most common type of hypoplastic defect, taking the form of “furrows” on the enamel surface (Hillson and Bond, 1997). Of the different types of hypoplastic defects, LEH has the greatest potential to reveal information about the duration of enamel growth disturbances. This potential resides in several crucial facts about enamel formation and in the nature of LEH defects themselves.

Type: Chapter
Information: Technique and Application in Dental Anthropology , pp. 71 - 86

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511542442.004 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Book purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Aiello, L. and Dean, M. C. (2002). An Introduction to Human Evolutionary Anatomy. London: Academic PressGoogle Scholar

Bailey, S. E. and Hublin, J.-J. (2006). Dental remains from the Grotte du Renne at Arcy-sur-Cure (Yonne). Journal of Human Evolution, 50, 485–508CrossRef Google Scholar

Blakey, M. L., Leslie, T. E., and Reidy, J. P. (1994). Frequency and chronological distribution of dental enamel hypoplasia in enslaved African Americans: a test of the weaning hypothesis. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 95, 371–84CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Beynon, D. and Dean, M. C. (1988). Distinct dental development patterns in early fossil hominids. Nature, 335, 509–14CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Bombin, M. (1990). Transverse enamel hypoplasia on teeth of South African Plio-Pleistocene hominids. Naturwissenschaften, 77, 128–9CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Bocherens, H., Billiou, D., Mariotti, A.et al. (1999). Paleoenvironmental and paleodietary implications of isotopic biogeochemistry of last interglacial Neanderthal and mammal bones in Scladina Cave (Belgium). Journal of Archaeological Science, 26, 599–607CrossRef Google Scholar

Brennan, M. (1991). Health and Disease in the Middle and Upper Paleolithic of Southwestern France: A Bioarchaeological Study. Ph. D. Dissertation, New York UniversityGoogle Scholar

Bromage, T. G. (1991). Enamel incremental periodicity in the pig-tailed macaque: a polychrome fluorescent labeling study of dental hard tissues. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 86, 205–14CrossRef Google Scholar

Bromage, T. G. and Dean, M. C. (1985). Re-evaluation of the age at death of immature fossil hominids. Nature, 317, 525–7CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Brunet, M., Fronty, P., Sapanet, M., Bonis, L., and Viriot, L (2002). Enamel hypoplasia in a Pliocene Hominid from Chad. Connective Tissue Research, 43, 94–7CrossRef Google Scholar

Dean, M. C. and Reid, D. J. (2001a). Perikymata spacing and distribution on hominid anterior teeth. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 116, 209–15CrossRef Google Scholar

Dean, M. C. and Reid, D. J. (2001b). Anterior tooth formation in Australopithecus and Paranthropus. In Dental Morphology, ed. Brook, A.. Sheffield: University of Sheffield, pp. 135–43Google Scholar

Dean, M. C., Leakey, M. G., Reid, D. J.et al. (2001). Growth processes in teeth distinguish modern humans from Homo erectus and earlier hominins. Nature, 414, 628–31CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Ensor, B. E. and Irish, J. D. (1995). Hypoplastic area method for analyzing dental enamel hypoplasia. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 98, 507–18CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Fédération Dentaire Internationale (1982). An epidemiological index of developmental defects of dental enamel (DDE). International Dental Journal, 32, 159–67

Fédération Dentaire Internationale (1992). A review of the developmental defects of enamel index (DDE Index). International Dental Journal, 42, 411–26

Fitzgerald, C. M. (1998). Do enamel microstructures have regular time dependency? Journal of Human Evolution, 35, 371–86CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Goodman, A. H. and Rose, J. C. (1990). Assessment of physiological perturbations from dental enamel hypoplasia and associated histological structures. Yearbook of Physical Anthropology, 33, 59–110CrossRef Google Scholar

Grine, F. E. (1986). Dental evidence for dietary differences in Australopithecus and Paranthropus: a quantitative analysis of permanent molar microwear. Journal of Human Evolution, 15, 783–822CrossRef Google Scholar

Grine, F. E. and Kay, R. F. (1988). Early hominid diets from quantitative image analysis of dental microwear. Nature, 333, 765–8CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Guatelli-Steinberg, D. (2000). Linear enamel hypoplasia in gibbons (Hylobates lar carpenteri). American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 112, 395–4103.0.CO;2-H>CrossRef Google Scholar

Guatelli-Steinberg, D. (2003). Macroscopic and microscopic analyses of linear enamel hypoplasia in Plio-Pleistocene South African hominins with respect to aspects of enamel development and morphology. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 120, 309–22CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Guatelli-Steinberg, D. (2004). Analysis and significance of linear enamel hypoplasia in Plio-Pleistocene hominins. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 123, 199–215CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Guatelli-Steinberg, D., Larsen, C. S., and Hutchinson, D. L. (2004). Prevalence and duration of linear enamel hypoplasia: a comparative study of Neanderthals and Inuit foragers. Journal of Human Evolution, 47, 65–84CrossRef Google Scholar

Guatelli-Steinberg, D., Reid, D. J., Bishop, T. A., and Larsen, C. S. (in press). Imbricational enamel formation in Neandertals and recent modern humans. In Dental Perspectives on Human Evolution: State of the Art Research in Dental Anthropology, ed. Bailey, S. and Hublin, J.-J.. New York: Springer-VerlagGoogle Scholar

Hillson, S. (1992). Impression and replica methods for studying hypoplasia and perikymata on human tooth crown surfaces from archaeological sites. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 2, 65–78CrossRef Google Scholar

Hillson, S. (1996). Dental Anthropology. Cambridge: Cambridge University PressCrossRef Google Scholar

Hillson, S. and Bond, S. (1997). The relationship of enamel hypoplasia to the pattern of tooth crown growth: a discussion. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 104, 89–1033.0.CO;2-8>CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Hillson, S. and Jones, B. K. (1989). Instruments for measuring surface profiles: an application in the study of ancient human tooth crown surfaces. Journal of Archaeological Science, 16, 95–105CrossRef Google Scholar

Hutchinson, D. L., Larsen, C. S., and Choi, I. (1997). Stressed to the max? Physiological perturbation in the Krapina Neandertals. Current Anthropology, 38, 904–14CrossRef Google Scholar

Jelinek, A. J. (1994). Hominids, energy, environment, and behavior in the Late Pleistocene. In Origins of Anatomically Modern Humans, ed. Nitecki, M. H. and Nitecki, D. V.. New York: Plenum Press, pp. 67–92CrossRef Google Scholar

King, T., Hillson, S. W., and Humphrey, L. T. (2002). A detailed study of enamel hypoplasia in a post-medieval adolescent of known age and sex. Archives of Oral Biology, 47, 29–39CrossRef Google Scholar

Larsen, H. and Rainey, F. (1948). Ipiutak and the Arctic whale hunting culture. Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History, 42, 1–276Google Scholar

Moggi-Cecchi, J. (2000). Enamel hypoplasia in South African early hominids: A reappraisal. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 30, 230–1 (abstract)Google Scholar

Molnar, S. and Molnar, I. M. (1985). The prevalence of enamel hypoplasia among the Krapina Neandertals. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 87, 536–49CrossRef Google Scholar

Ogilvie, M. D., Curran, B. K., and Trinkaus, E. (1989). Prevalence and patterning of dental enamel hypoplasia among the Neandertals. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 79, 25–41CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Reid, D. J. and Dean, M. C. (2000). Brief communication: the timing of linear hypoplasias on human anterior teeth. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 113, 135–93.0.CO;2-A>CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Reid, D. J. and Dean, M. C. (2006). Population variation in human enamel formation. Journal of Human Evolution, 50, 329–46CrossRef Google Scholar

Richards, M. P., Petit, P. B., Trinkaus, E.et al. (2000). Neanderthal diet at Vindija and Neanderthal predation: the evidence from stable isotopes. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 97, 7663–6CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Rink, W. J., Schwartz, H. P., Smith, F. H., and Radovčić, J. (1995). ESR ages for Krapina hominids. Nature, 378, 24CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Schwartz, J. H. and Tattersall, I. (2002). The Human Fossil Record. Vol. 1. New York: Wiley-LissGoogle Scholar

Schwartz, J. H., Brauer, J., and Gordon-Larsen, P. (1995). Brief communication: Tigaran (Point Hope, Alaska) tooth drilling. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 97, 77–82CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Scott, R. S., Ungar, P. S., Bergstrom, T. S.et al. (2005). Dental microwear texture analysis shows within-species dietary variability in fossil hominins. Nature, 436, 693–5CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Skinner, M. (1996). Developmental stress in immature hominins from Late Pleistocene Eurasia: Evidence from enamel hypoplasia. Journal of Archaeological Science, 23, 833–52CrossRef Google Scholar

Smith, T., Reid, D. J., Dean, M. C. et al. (in press). New perspectives on chimpanzee and human molar development. In Dental Perspectives on Human Evolution: State of the Art Research in Dental Anthropology, ed. Bailey, S. and Hublin, J.-J.. New York: Springer-VerlagGoogle Scholar

Soffer, O. (1994). Ancestral lifeways in Eurasia: The Middle and Upper Paleolithic records. In Origins of Anatomically Modern Humans, ed. Nitecki, M. H. and Nitecki, D. V.. New York: Plenum Press, pp. 84–109CrossRef Google Scholar

Sorensen, M. V. and Leonard, W. R. (2001). Neandertal energetics and foraging efficiency. Journal of Human Evolution, 40, 483–95CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Sponheimer, M. and Lee-Thorp, J. A. (1999). Isotopic evidence for the diet of an early hominid, Australopithecus africanus. Science, 283, 368–370Google Scholar PubMed

Ten, Cate A. R. (1994). Oral Histology: Development, Structure, and Function, 4th edn. St. Louis: CV MosbyGoogle Scholar

Tobias, P. V. (1991). Olduvai Gorge Vol. 4: The Skulls, Endocasts, and Teeth of Homo habilis. Cambridge: Cambridge University PressGoogle Scholar

Trinkaus, E. (1986). The Neandertals and modern human origins. Annual Review of Anthropology, 15, 193–218CrossRef Google Scholar

Trinkaus, E. (1989). The Upper Pleistocene transition. In The Emergence of Modern Humans: Biocultural Adaptation in the Later Pleistocene, ed. Trinkaus, E.. New York: Cambridge University Press, pp. 42–6Google Scholar

White, T. D. (1978). Early hominid enamel hypoplasia. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 49, 79–84CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Wood, J. W., Harpending, H. C., Weiss, K. M., and Milner, G. R. (1992). The osteological paradox: Problems of inferring prehistoric health from skeletal samples. Current Anthropology, 33, 343–70CrossRef Google Scholar