Projects per year
Abstract
We analyze unerupted and still-forming crown deciduous teeth from 45 infant burials. By calculating Crown Formation Time (CFT) and identifying the NNL, we determine both gestational and chronological ages. We further validate the reliability of NNL identification through Synchrotron X-ray Fluorescence (SXRF) elemental analysis (Ca, Zn, Cu) on two contemporary and two archaeological samples.
Our histological study reveals the chronological age of 38 infants from Iberian settlements, ranging from the 30th week of gestation to the 2nd postnatal month. The age distribution shows an attritional mortality pattern, with nearly half experiencing perinatal mortality, including preterm births. These findings support the hypothesis that mortality was primarily attributed to natural causes. Our research enhances the understanding of infant life history events in prehistory by combining histological analysis of tooth NNL and CFT, highlighting the technique's potential and limitations.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Article number | 106088 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | Journal of Archaeological Science |
Volume | 171 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Nov 2024 |
Keywords
- Iberian culture
- Deciduous teeth
- Crown formation time
- Neonatal line
- Synchrotron X-ray fluorescence
Fingerprint
Dive into the research topics of 'Reconstructing infant mortality in Iberian Iron Age populations from tooth histology'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.Projects
- 1 Finished
-
Reevaluación del infanticidio y selección de sexo en época ibérica
Pereira Dos Santos, C. M. (Principal Investigator), Malgosa Morera, A. (Principal Investigator 2), Aluja Paris, M. P. (Investigator), Galtes Vicente, J. I. (Investigator), Isidro Llorens, A. (Investigator), Molist Capella, N. (Investigator), Jordana Comin, X. (Collaborator), Busquets Costa, F. X. (Collaborator), Mestres Santacreu, I. (Collaborator), Duran Caixal, M. (Collaborator), Fàbregas Espadaler, M. (Collaborator), Vinueza Espinosa, D. C. (Collaborator), Schroeder, H. (Collaborator), Martinez-Labarga, C. (Collaborator), Montiel Duarte, R. (Collaborator), Mateiu, L. (Collaborator), Ruiz de la Cuesta Aguirre, D. (Collaborator), Sandoval Avila, C. A. (Collaborator), Domenech Moreno, N. (Collaborator) & Martirosyan Ghazaryan, A. (Collaborator)
Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation
1/01/19 → 31/12/22
Project: Research Projects and Other Grants