Biocultural Aspects of Poor Dental Health in Early Agricultural Groups: Farming, Fertility and Females
(University of Nevada, Las Vegas)
This project considers the complex interaction between human biology and culture, focusing on the role of reproduction in the lives of women. Archaeological research has established that many early agricultural populations experienced an increase in dental pathologies, with women exhibiting higher rates than their male counterparts. Clinical dental research has demonstrated an association between changes that occur in the oral environment during pregnancy and dental pathology (i.e., caries). In addition, research has shown that maternal dental health can impact the health of women in critical ways, and can affect the health of infants, predisposing them for caries formation when teeth erupt (Bobetsis et al. 2006; Boggess & Edelstein 2006; Burakoff 2003; Laine 2002). This study analyzed dentition from a sample (n=142) of Early Agricultural period skeletons from the site of La Playa (SON F:10:3), Sonora, México. Archaeological evidence from this period has shown that this was a time of population increase and greater dependence on cariogenic resources, including cactus and maize. Dental data were used to test the hypothesis that hormone-related effects that occur during pregnancy lead to greater susceptibility for female dental pathology (i.e., dental caries and antemortem tooth loss). Analysis identified significant differences in male-female rates for antemortem tooth loss. Over their lifespan, the La Playa sample women lost twice as many teeth as their male counterparts. Findings from the study provide greater understanding of sex-based differences in oral pathology and provide insights into the long-term impact to women’s health, with implications for maternal health in marginalized populations today.