The Effect of Agriculture on Health in Neolithic Populations in the Levant

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the effect that the onset of agriculturalism had on the lives and health of the various Neolithic populations in the Levant during that time. Analysis of bones found at the site of Abu Hureyra (which was occupied by both hunter-gatherers and agriculturalists) show evidence for increased physical stress in the skeletons of agriculturalists, which was due to the physical stress of agriculture (Molleson 1994). Furthermore, musculoskeletal markers on Neolithic male skeletons were shown to be more symmetrical than on Natufian male skeletons. This correlates with the shift from hunting to farming (Eshed et al. 2004). It was also found that the agricultural lifestyle increased the infectious disease rate of farming populations when compared to their Natufian counterparts (Eshed et al. 2010). The shift to an agricultural lifestyle brought about many changes for dental health as well. In Neolithic populations, the rates of dental caries increased, while the wear on their teeth decreased (Eshed, Gopher, and Hershkovitz 2006; Richards 2002). This was due to the increased consumption of carbohydrates and the decreased use of teeth as tools, respectively (Eshed, Gopher, and Hershkovitz 2006; Richards 2002). Furthermore, the mandible was shown to decrease in size in the Neolithic populations when compared to Natufians (Pinhasi, Eshed, and von Cramon-Taubadel 2015). These dental changes were also seen in other areas during the agricultural shift, such as South Asia and South America (Eshed, Gopher, and Hershkovitz 2006).

Short Communication: The Biology of Natfa People: Bones and Teeth

The archeological site of Natfa is a rurallate-antiquity site in northern Jordan. The tomb typologypoints to two social ranks: the public compared to thefew elites who might have controlled wealth allocation.The people died at young ages (under 35 years of age).There seems to be reliance on hard food particles richin carbohydrates, which increased the occurrence ofinterproximal caries. A few oblique dental caries arereported, probably caused by using teeth as tools.

Anterior dental microwear texture analysis of the Krapina Neandertals

Some Neandertal anterior teeth show unusual and excessive gross wear, commonly explained by non-dietary anterior tooth use, or using the anterior dentition as a tool, clamp, or third hand. This alternate use is inferred from aboriginal arctic populations, who used their front teeth in this manner. Here we examine anterior dental microwear textures of the Krapina Neandertals to test this hypothesis and further analyze tooth use in these hominins.Microwear textures from 17 Krapina Dental People were collected by white-light confocal profilometry using a 100x objective lens. Four adjacent scans were generated, totaling an area of 204x276 μm, and were analyzed using Toothfrax and SFrax SSFA software packages. The Neandertals were compared to six bioarchaeological/ethnographic samples with reported variation in diet, abrasive load, and non-dietary anterior tooth use.Results indicate that Krapina anterior teeth lack extreme microwear textures expected of hominins exposed to heavy abrasives or those that regularly generated high stresses associated with intense use of the front teeth as tools. Krapina hominins have microwear attributes in common with Coast Tsimshian, Aleut, and Puye Pueblo samples. Collectively, this suggests that the Krapina Neandertals faced moderate abrasive loads and only periodically used their anterior teeth as tools for non-diet related behaviors.