Gregorio Oxilia1,2, Flavia Fiorillo3, Francesco Boschin4,5, Elisabetta Boaretto6, Salvatore A Apicella3, Chiara Matteucci3, Daniele Panetta7, Rossella Pistocchi8, Franca Guerrini8, Cristiana Margherita2, Massimo Andretta9, Rita Sorrentino2,10, Giovanni Boschian11, Simona Arrighi4,5, Irene Dori1, Giuseppe Mancuso2, Jacopo Crezzini4,5, Alessandro Riga1, Maria C Serrangeli2, Antonino Vazzana2, Piero A Salvadori7, Mariangela Vandini3, Carlo Tozzi12, Adriana Moroni4,5, Robin N M Feeney13, John C Willman14, Jacopo Moggi-Cecchi1, Stefano Benazzi2,15. 1. Department of Biology, University of Florence, Via del Proconsolo, 12, Firenze, 50122, Italy. 2. Department of Cultural Heritage, Laboratory of Anthropology, University of Bologna, Via degli Ariani 1, Ravenna, 48121, Italy. 3. Department of Cultural Heritage, Conservation Science Laboratory for Cultural Heritage, University of Bologna, Via degli Ariani 1, Ravenna, 48121, Italy. 4. Study Centre for the Quaternary Period (CeSQ), Via Nuova dell'Ammazzatoio 7, Sansepolcro, Arezzo, I-52037, Italy. 5. Department of Physical Sciences, Earth and Environment, University of Siena, Research Unit in Prehistory and Anthropology, Via Laterina 8, Siena, 53100, Italy. 6. Max Planck-Weizmann Center for Integrative Archaeology and Anthropology, D-REAMS Radiocarbon Laboratory, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, 7610001, Israel. 7. Institute of Clinical Physiology, IFC-CNR, Via G. Moruzzi 1, Pisa, 56124, Italy. 8. Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, University of Bologna, Via Sant'Alberto 163, Ravenna, 48123, Italy. 9. School of Science, University of Bologna, Via dell'Agricoltura 5, Ravenna, 48123, Italy. 10. Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences - BiGeA University of Bologna, Via Selmi 3, Bologna, 40126, Italy. 11. Department of Biology, University of Pisa, via Derna 1, Pisa, 56125, Italy. 12. Department of Civilisations and Forms of Knowledge, University of Pisa, Via Pasquale Paoli, 15, Pisa, 56126, Italy. 13. UCD School of Medicine, Health Science Centre, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland. 14. Department of Anthropology, Campus Box 1114, Washington University, Saint Louis, Missouri, 63130. 15. Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, Leipzig, 04103, Germany.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: Early evidence for the treatment of dental pathology is found primarily among food-producing societies associated with high levels of oral pathology. However, some Late Pleistocene hunter-gatherers show extensive oral pathology, suggesting that experimentation with therapeutic dental interventions may have greater antiquity. Here, we report the second earliest probable evidence for dentistry in a Late Upper Paleolithic hunter-gatherer recovered from Riparo Fredian (Tuscany, Italy). MATERIALS AND METHODS: The Fredian 5 human consists of an associated maxillary anterior dentition with antemortem exposure of both upper first incisor (I1 ) pulp chambers. The pulp chambers present probable antemortem modifications that warrant in-depth analyses and direct dating. Scanning electron microscopy, microCT and residue analyses were used to investigate the purported modifications of external and internal surfaces of each I1 . RESULTS: The direct date places Fredian 5 between 13,000 and 12,740 calendar years ago. Both pulp chambers were circumferentially enlarged prior to the death of this individual. Occlusal dentine flaking on the margin of the cavities and striations on their internal aspects suggest anthropic manipulation. Residue analyses revealed a conglomerate of bitumen, vegetal fibers, and probable hairs adherent to the internal walls of the cavities. DISCUSSION: The results are consistent with tool-assisted manipulation to remove necrotic or infected pulp in vivo and the subsequent use of a composite, organic filling. Fredian 5 confirms the practice of dentistry-specifically, a pathology-induced intervention-among Late Pleistocene hunter-gatherers. As such, it appears that fundamental perceptions of biomedical knowledge and practice were in place long before the socioeconomic changes associated with the transition to food production in the Neolithic.
OBJECTIVES: Early evidence for the treatment of dental pathology is found primarily among food-producing societies associated with high levels of oral pathology. However, some Late Pleistocene hunter-gatherers show extensive oral pathology, suggesting that experimentation with therapeutic dental interventions may have greater antiquity. Here, we report the second earliest probable evidence for dentistry in a Late Upper Paleolithic hunter-gatherer recovered from Riparo Fredian (Tuscany, Italy). MATERIALS AND METHODS: The Fredian 5 human consists of an associated maxillary anterior dentition with antemortem exposure of both upper first incisor (I1 ) pulp chambers. The pulp chambers present probable antemortem modifications that warrant in-depth analyses and direct dating. Scanning electron microscopy, microCT and residue analyses were used to investigate the purported modifications of external and internal surfaces of each I1 . RESULTS: The direct date places Fredian 5 between 13,000 and 12,740 calendar years ago. Both pulp chambers were circumferentially enlarged prior to the death of this individual. Occlusal dentine flaking on the margin of the cavities and striations on their internal aspects suggest anthropic manipulation. Residue analyses revealed a conglomerate of bitumen, vegetal fibers, and probable hairs adherent to the internal walls of the cavities. DISCUSSION: The results are consistent with tool-assisted manipulation to remove necrotic or infected pulp in vivo and the subsequent use of a composite, organic filling. Fredian 5 confirms the practice of dentistry-specifically, a pathology-induced intervention-among Late Pleistocene hunter-gatherers. As such, it appears that fundamental perceptions of biomedical knowledge and practice were in place long before the socioeconomic changes associated with the transition to food production in the Neolithic.