How did the Qesem Cave people use their teeth? Analysis of dental wear patterns

Rachel Sarig; Avi Gopher; Ran Barkai; Jordi Rosell; Ruth Blasco; Gerhard W. Weber; Cinzia Fornai; Tatiana Sella-Tunis; Israel Hershkovitz

doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2015.10.033

How did the Qesem Cave people use their teeth? Analysis of dental wear patterns

Rachel Sarig, Avi Gopher, Ran Barkai, Jordi Rosell, Ruth Blasco, Gerhard W. Weber, Cinzia Fornai, Tatiana Sella-Tunis, Israel Hershkovitz

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review

11 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

© 2015 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. Dental wear pattern is an important source of information regarding dietary habits, food preparation, and human economic behavior. In the current study we present our preliminary analysis of the dental wear patterns of the Middle Pleistocene (420-200 kya) Qesem Cave teeth. Five types of tooth wear were studied: Occlusal wear, interproximal wear, subvertical grooves, buccal microwear and root striations. We found mild to moderate occlusal wear (stage range 2-4), the largest proximal facet on the M 2 medial was 15.3 mm 2 , presence of three subvertical grooves on the M 2 distal surface, a variety of microwear scratches (many are >200 mμ long and >5 mμ wide) and two types of root striations. The data obtained suggests that the Qesem Cave people possessed a strong masticatory system producing massive anterior component of force, and used small flints as food choppers.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	136-147
Journal	Quaternary International
Volume	398
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2015.10.033
Publication status	Published - 4 Apr 2016

Keywords

Attrition
Dental wear
Middle Paleolithic
Qesem Cave
Teeth

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10.1016/j.quaint.2015.10.033

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title = "How did the Qesem Cave people use their teeth? Analysis of dental wear patterns",

abstract = "{\textcopyright} 2015 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. Dental wear pattern is an important source of information regarding dietary habits, food preparation, and human economic behavior. In the current study we present our preliminary analysis of the dental wear patterns of the Middle Pleistocene (420-200 kya) Qesem Cave teeth. Five types of tooth wear were studied: Occlusal wear, interproximal wear, subvertical grooves, buccal microwear and root striations. We found mild to moderate occlusal wear (stage range 2-4), the largest proximal facet on the M 2 medial was 15.3 mm 2 , presence of three subvertical grooves on the M 2 distal surface, a variety of microwear scratches (many are >200 mμ long and >5 mμ wide) and two types of root striations. The data obtained suggests that the Qesem Cave people possessed a strong masticatory system producing massive anterior component of force, and used small flints as food choppers.",

keywords = "Attrition, Dental wear, Middle Paleolithic, Qesem Cave, Teeth",

author = "Rachel Sarig and Avi Gopher and Ran Barkai and Jordi Rosell and Ruth Blasco and Weber, {Gerhard W.} and Cinzia Fornai and Tatiana Sella-Tunis and Israel Hershkovitz",

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T1 - How did the Qesem Cave people use their teeth? Analysis of dental wear patterns

AU - Sarig, Rachel

AU - Gopher, Avi

AU - Barkai, Ran

AU - Rosell, Jordi

AU - Blasco, Ruth

AU - Weber, Gerhard W.

AU - Fornai, Cinzia

AU - Sella-Tunis, Tatiana

AU - Hershkovitz, Israel

PY - 2016/4/4

Y1 - 2016/4/4

N2 - © 2015 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. Dental wear pattern is an important source of information regarding dietary habits, food preparation, and human economic behavior. In the current study we present our preliminary analysis of the dental wear patterns of the Middle Pleistocene (420-200 kya) Qesem Cave teeth. Five types of tooth wear were studied: Occlusal wear, interproximal wear, subvertical grooves, buccal microwear and root striations. We found mild to moderate occlusal wear (stage range 2-4), the largest proximal facet on the M 2 medial was 15.3 mm 2 , presence of three subvertical grooves on the M 2 distal surface, a variety of microwear scratches (many are >200 mμ long and >5 mμ wide) and two types of root striations. The data obtained suggests that the Qesem Cave people possessed a strong masticatory system producing massive anterior component of force, and used small flints as food choppers.

AB - © 2015 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. Dental wear pattern is an important source of information regarding dietary habits, food preparation, and human economic behavior. In the current study we present our preliminary analysis of the dental wear patterns of the Middle Pleistocene (420-200 kya) Qesem Cave teeth. Five types of tooth wear were studied: Occlusal wear, interproximal wear, subvertical grooves, buccal microwear and root striations. We found mild to moderate occlusal wear (stage range 2-4), the largest proximal facet on the M 2 medial was 15.3 mm 2 , presence of three subvertical grooves on the M 2 distal surface, a variety of microwear scratches (many are >200 mμ long and >5 mμ wide) and two types of root striations. The data obtained suggests that the Qesem Cave people possessed a strong masticatory system producing massive anterior component of force, and used small flints as food choppers.

KW - Attrition

KW - Dental wear

KW - Middle Paleolithic

KW - Qesem Cave

KW - Teeth

U2 - 10.1016/j.quaint.2015.10.033

DO - 10.1016/j.quaint.2015.10.033

M3 - Article

SN - 1040-6182

VL - 398

SP - 136

EP - 147

JO - Quaternary International

JF - Quaternary International

ER -

How did the Qesem Cave people use their teeth? Analysis of dental wear patterns

Abstract

Keywords

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