Location via proxy:   [ UP ]  
[Report a bug]   [Manage cookies]                
Skip to main content
Springer Nature Link
Log in

Post-pleistocene reductions in human dental structure: a reappraisal in terms of increasing population density

  • Published:
Human Evolution

Abstract

This paper discusses the well-documented acceleration which occurred in the reduction of human dental structure during the post-Pleistocene. It suggests that the process can be explained in terms of different but related factors inherent in a transition from late-Pleistocene hunting and gathering conditions to ones involving a sedentary life in larger groups. It is postulated that directional selective forces acting during Upper Paleolithic to maintain large tooth size had only a poor influence and that the new techniques in food preparation had little or no effect. The phenomenon is seen as a possible side-effect of a more complex overall reduction in body size, of which dental reduction only represents a small but demonstrable part. It is also suggested that stresses may have played an important role in producing a transitory reduced dimensional expression of the genetic background. An interaction between the variables directly or indirectly affecting body mass is shown in the model proposed which relates to post-Pleistocene. An increase in population density is indicated as being the most decisive biological factor in determining the acceleration in the trend towards reduction.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Acsadi G. Y. &Neméskeri J., 1970.History of human life span and mortality. Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadò.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ammerman A. J., 1975.Late Pleistocene population alternatives. Human Ecology, 3: 219–233.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ammerman A. J., Cavalli-Sforza L. L. &Wagener D. K., 1976.Toward the estimation of population growth in Old World prehistory. In (E. B. W. Zubrow, Ed.) Demographic Anthropology. Quantitative approaches, pp. 27–61. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson D. L. &Popovich F., 1977.Dental reduction and dental caries. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 47: 381–385.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson D. L. &Thompson G. W., 1973.Interrelationships and sex differences of dental and skeletal measurements. Journal of Dental Research, 52: 431–438.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson D. L., Thompson G. W. &Popovich F., 1975.Evolutionary dental changes. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 43: 95–102.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson D. L., Thompson G. W. &Popovich, F., 1977.Tooth, chin, bone and body size correlations. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 46: 7–12.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Angel J. L., 1971.Early Neolithic skeletons from Çatal Hüyük: demography and pathology. Anatolian Studies, 21: 77–98.

    Google Scholar 

  • Angel J. L., 1972a.Ecology and population in the Eastern Mediterranean. World Archaeology, 4: 88–105.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Angel J. L., 1972b.Biological relations of Egyptian and Eastern Mediterranean populations during pre-Dynastic and Dynastic times. Journal of Human Evolution, 1: 307–313.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Armelagos G. J. &Van Gerven D. P., 1980.Sexual dimorphism and human evolution: an overview. Journal of Human Evolution, 9: 437–446.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Armelagos G. J., Huss-Ashmore R. &Martin D., 1982.Morphometrics as indicators of dietary stress in prehistoric Sudanese Nubia. Masca Journal, 2: 22–26.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bailit H. L. &Friedlaender J. S., 1966.Tooth size reduction: a Hominid trend. American Anthropologist, 68: 665–672.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Binford L. R., 1983.Population growth and hunter-gatherer subsistence options. In (L. R. Binford, Ed.) In pursuit of the past, pp. 208–213. German Democratic Republic: Thames and Hudson.

    Google Scholar 

  • Binford L. R. &Chasko W. J., 1976.Nunamiut demographic history: a provocative case. In (E. B. W. Zubrow, Ed.) Demographic Anthropology. Quantitative approaches, pp. 63–143. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Borgognini Tarli S. &Masali M., 1983.Dimorfismo sessuale e ruoli: un modello microevolutivo (Egiziani predinastici e dinastici). Antropologia Contemporanea, 6: 179–192.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brace C. L., 1963.Structural reduction in evolution. American Naturalist, 97: 39–49.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brace C. L., 1964.The Probable Mutation Effect. American Naturalist, 98: 453–455.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brace C. L., 1967.Environment, tooth form, and size in the Pleistocene. Journal of Dental Research, 46: 809–816.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brace C. L., 1972.Sexual dimorphism in human evolution. Yearbook of Physical Anthropology, 16: 31–49.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brace C. L., 1978.Tooth reduction in the Orient. Asian Perspectives, 19: 203–219.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brace C. L. &Mahler P. E., 1971.Post-Pleistocene changes in the human dentition. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 34: 191–204.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brace C. L. &Nagai M., 1982.Japanese tooth size: past and present. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 59: 399–411.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brace C. L. &Ryan A. S., 1980.Sexual dimorphism and human tooth size differences. Journal of Human Evolution, 9: 417–435.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brace C. L., Xiang-ging S. &Zhen-biao Z., 1984.Prehistoric and modern tooth size in China. In (F. H. Smith & F. Spencer, Eds.) The origins of modern Humans: a world survey of the fossil evidence, pp. 485–516. New York: Alan R. Liss Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bronson B., 1977.The earliest farming: demography as cause and consequence. In (C. Reed, Ed.) Origins of Agriculture, pp. 23–48. The Hague: Mouton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brose D. S. &Wolpoff M. H., 1971.Early Upper Paleolithic man and late Middle Paleolithic tools. American Anthropologist, 73: 1156–1194.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brothwell D. R., 1969.Dietary variation and the biology of earlier human populations In (P. J. Ucko & G. W. Dimbleby, Eds) The domestication and exploitation of plants and animals, pp. 531–545. London: Duckworth.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brues, A. M., 1959.The spearman and the archer: an essay on selection in body build. American Anthropologist, 61: 457–469.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brues A. M., 1966.«Probable Mutation Effect» and the evolution of Hominid teeth and jaws. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 25: 169–170.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carneiro R. L., 1967.On the relationship between size of population and complexity of social organization. South-western Journal of Anthropology, 23: 234–243.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carneiro R. L. &Hilse D, 1966.On determining the probable rate of population growth during the Neolithic. American Anthropologist, 68: 177–181.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chamla M. C., 1980.Etude des variations métriques des couronnes dentaires des Nord-Africains, de l'Epipaléolithique à l'époque actuelle L'Anthropologie. 84: 254–271.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cleland C. E., 1976.The focal-diffuse model: an evolutionary perspective on the prehistoric cultural adaptations of the Eastern United States. Mid-Continental Journal of Archaeology, 1: 59–76.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cockburn A. T., 1971.Infectious diseases in ancient populations. Current Anthropology, 12: 45–62.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen M. N., 1977.The food crisis in prehistory New Haven: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen M. N., 1980.Speculations on the evolution of density measurement and population regulation in Homo sapiens. In (M. N. Cohen, R. S. Malpass & H. G. Klein, Eds.) Biosocial mechanisms of population regulation, pp. 275–303. New Haven: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen M. N. &Armelagos G. J. Eds. 1984.Paleopathology at the origin of agriculture. London: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Constandse-Westermann T. S., 1977.Mesolithic man in Northwestern Europe, biological distances, genetic considerations. Journal of Human Evolution, 6: 195–209.

    Google Scholar 

  • Constandse-Westermann T. S. &Newell R. R., 1984.Human biological background of population dynamics in the Western European Mesolithic. Human Palaeontology, 87: 139–223.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cosseddu G. G. &Floris G., 1982.Morformetria dentale in serie sarde dalla protostoria ad oggi. Antropologia Contemporanea, 5: 283–289.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cowgill G. L. 1975.On causes and consequences of ancient and modern population changes. American Anthropologist, 77: 505–525.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dahlberg A. A., 1960.The dentition of the first agriculturalists (Jarmo, Iraq). American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 18: 243–256.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deewey E. S., 1960.The human population. Scientific American, 203: 195–204.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ebeling C. F., Ingewall B., Hedegard B. &Lewin T., 1973.Secular changes in tooth size in Swedish men. Acta Odontologica Scandinavica, 31: 141–147.

    Google Scholar 

  • Filipsson R. &Goldson L. 1963.Correlation between tooth width, width of head, length of head and stature. Acta Odontologica Scandinavica, 21: 359–365.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fix A. G., 1979.Anthropological genetics of small populations Annual Review of Anthropology, 8: 207–230.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Flannery K. V., 1973.The origins of agriculture. Annual Review of Anthropology, 2: 271–310.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fléchier J. P. &Verdène J., 1974.Quelques considérations sur la denture des Mésolithiques Français. Bullettin et Mémoires de la Societé d'Anthropologie de Paris, 13: 237–269.

    Google Scholar 

  • Formicola V. 1983.Stautre in Italian prehistoric samples, with particular reference to methodological problems. Homo, 34: 33–47.

    Google Scholar 

  • Formicola V., 1984.Contributo alla conoscenza della dinamica della statura nella preistoria italiana. Antropologia Contemporanea, 7: 205–217.

    Google Scholar 

  • Frayer D. W., 1977.Metric dental changes in the European Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 46: 109–120.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frayer D. W., 1978.Evolution of the dentition in Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic Europe. Lawrence: University of Kansas.

    Google Scholar 

  • Frayer D. W., 1980.Sexual dimorphism and cultural evolution in the Late Pleistocene and Holocene of Europe. Journal of Human Evolution, 9: 399–415.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frayer D. W., 1981.Body size, weapon use, and natural selection in the European Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic. American Anthropologist, 83: 57–73.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frayer D. W., 1984.Biological and cultural change in the European Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene. In (F. H. Smith & F. Spencer, Eds.) The origins of modern Humans: a world survey of the fossil evidence, pp. 211–250. New York: Alan R. Liss Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Frisancho A. R., Garn S. M. &Ascoli W., 1970.Childhood retardation resulting in reduction of adult body size due to a lesser adolescent skeletal delay. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 33: 325–336.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frisancho A. R., Sanchez J., Pallardel D. &Yanez L., 1973.Adaptive significance of small body size under poor socio-economic conditions in Southern Perù. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 39: 255–262.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garn S. M., Lewis A. B. &Walenga A. J., 1968a.Two-generation confermation of crown-size body-size relationships in humans beings. Journal of Dental Research, 47:1197.

    Google Scholar 

  • Garn S. M., Lewis A. B. &Walenga A. J., 1968b.Evidence for a secular trend in tooth size over two generations. Journal of Dental Research, 47: 503.

    Google Scholar 

  • Garn S. M., Lewis A. B. &Walenga A. J., 1969.Crown-size profile patterns and presumed evolutionary «strends». American Anthropologist, 71: 79–84.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garn S. M., Osborne R. H. &McCabe K. D. 1979The effect of prenatal factors on crown dimensions American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 51: 665–678.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Greene D. L., 1970.Environmental influences on Pleistocene Hominid dental evolution. Bioscience, 20: 276–279.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Greene D. L. &Armelagos G. J., 1972.The Wadi Halfa Mesolithic population. Amherst: University of Massachusetts.

    Google Scholar 

  • Handwerker W. P., 1983.The first demographic transition: an analysis of subsistence choices and reproductive consequencies. American Anthropologist, 85: 5–27.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harner M. J., 1970.Population pressure and the social evolution of agriculturalists South-western Journal of Anthropology, 26: 67–86.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hassan F. A. 1973.On mechanisms of population growth during the Neolithic. Current Anthropology, 14: 535–540.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hassan F. A., 1978.Demographic Archaeology, In (M. Schiffer, Ed.) Advanced in Archaelogical methods and theory, pp. 49–103. London: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hassan F. A., 1980.The growth and regulation of human population in prehistoric times. In (M. N. Cohen, R. S. Malpass & H. G. Klein, Eds.) Biosocial mechanisms of population regulation, pp. 305–319. New Haven: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hassan F. A., 1981.Demographic Archaeology. New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hayden B., 1981.Research and development in the stone age: technological transitions among hunter-gatherers. Current Anthropology 22: 519–548.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Henderson A. M. &Corruccini R. S., 1976.Relationship between tooth size and body size in American Blacks. Journal of Dental Research, 55: 94–96.

    Google Scholar 

  • Henneberg M., 1976.Reproductive possibilities and estimations of the biological dynamics of earlier human populations. Journal of Human Evolution, 5: 41–48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holloway R. L., 1966.Structural reduction through the «Probable Mutation Effect». A critique with questions regarding human evolution. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 25: 7–12.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jackson J. E., 1976.Vaupés marriage: a network system in the Northwest Amazon. In (C. A. Smith, Ed.) Regional analysis, vol. 2, Social Systems pp. 65–93. New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lallo J. W., Armelagos G. J. &Mensforth R. P., 1977.The role of diet, disease, and physiology in the origin of porotic hyperostosis. Human Biology, 49: 471–483.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lallo J. W., Armelagos G. J. &Rose J. C., 1978.Paleopidemiology of infectious disease in the Dickson Mounds population. Medical College of Virginia Quaterly, 14: 17–23.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lallo J. W. &Rose J. C., 1979.Patterns of stress, disease and mortality in two prehistoric populations from North America. Journal of Human Evolution, 8: 323–335.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Larsen C. S., 1981a.Skeletal and dental adaptations to the shift to agriculture on the Georgia Coast. Current Anthropology, 22: 422–423.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Larsen C. S., 1981b.Functional implications of postcranial size reduction on the prehistoric Georgia Coast, U.S.A.. Journal of Human Evolution, 10: 489–502.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Larsen C. S., 1983.Deciduous tooth size and subsistence change in prehistoric Georgia Coast populations. Current Anthropology, 24: 225–226.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lavelle C. L. B., 1977.Relationship between tooth and long bone size. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 46: 423–426.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leamy L., 1978.Intensity of natural selection for odontometric traits generated by differential fertility in Peromyscus leucopus. Heredity, 41: 25–34.

    Google Scholar 

  • LeBlanc S. A. &Black B., 1974.A long term trend in tooth size in the Eastern Mediterranean. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 41: 417–422.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lukacs J. R., 1983.Cultural variation and dental reduction: evolutionary mechanisms and the evidence from South Asia. Paper presented at the Indian Statistical Conference on Human Genetics and Adaptation, Calcutta, pp. 1–18.

  • Lukacs J. R. 1984.Dental Anthropology of South Asian populations: a review In (J. R. Lukacs, Ed.), The people of South Asia, pp. 133–157. New York: Plenum Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lukacs J. R., Joshi M. R. &Makhija P. G., 1983.Decidous tooth crown dimensions of living and prehistoric populations in Western India. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 61:383–387.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lunt D. A. 1969.An odontometric study of Mediaeval Danes. Acta Odontologica Scandinavica, 27, suppl. 55.

  • Macchiarelli R. &Bondioli L., 1984.Time and dental structural reduction in man: a reassessment of mechanisms. Antropologia Contemporanea, 7: 102.

    Google Scholar 

  • McKee J. K., 1984.A genetic model of dental reduction through the Probable Mutation Effect American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 65: 231–241.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meiklejohn C., 1974.The biosocial basis of Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic man in Western Europe. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis University of Toronto.

  • Motulsky A. G., 1960.Metabolic polymorphisms and the role of infectious diseases in human evolution. Human Biology, 32: 28–62.

    Google Scholar 

  • Neel J. V., 1970.Lesson from a «primitive people». Science, 170: 815–822.

    Google Scholar 

  • Newell R. R., 1973.The post-glacial adapatations of the indigenous populations of the Northwest European plain. In (S. K. Kozlowski, (Ed.)The Mesolithic in Europe, pp. 399–440. Warsaw: Warsaw University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Perzigian A. J., 1981.Allometric analysis of dental variation in a human population. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 54: 341–345.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Petersen W., 1975.A demographer's view of prehistoric demography. Current Anthropology, 16: 227–245.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Phillips A. P., 1973.The evolutionary model of human society and its application to certain early farming populations of Western Europe In C. Renfrew, Ed.) The explanation of culture change: models in prehistory, pp. 529–537. London: Duckworth.

    Google Scholar 

  • Relethford J. H. &Lees F. C., 1982.The use of quantitative traits in the study of human population structure. Yearbook of Physical Anthropology, 25: 113–132.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robinson J. T. 1954.Prehominid dentition and hominid evolution. Evolution, 8: 324–334.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robinson J. T. &Steudel K., 1973.Multivariate discriminant analysis of dental data bearing on early hominid affinities. Journal of Human Evolution, 2: 509–527.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schwidetzky, I., 1969.Grazilisation und Degrazilisation. Homo, 20: 160–174.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scott E. C., 1979.Increase of tooth size in prehistoric coastal Peru, 10,000 B. P.-1,000 B. P.. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 50: 251–258.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sheets J. W. &Gavan J. A., 1977.Dental reduction from Homo erectus to Neanderthal. Current Anthropology, 18: 587–588.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, P., 1977.Selective pressures and dental evolution in Hominids. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 47: 453–458.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, P., 1978.Evolutionary changes in the deciduous dentition of Near Eastern populations. Journal of Human Evolution, 7: 401–408.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, P., 1982.Dental reduction. Selection or drift? In (B. Kurtén, Ed.) Teeth: form, function, and evolution, pp. 366–379. New York: Columbia University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, P. E. L., 1972a.The consequences of food production. Addison-Wesley Module in Anthropology, 31: 1–38.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, P. E. L., 1972b.Changes in population pressure in archaeological explanation. World Archaeology, 4: 5–18.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sofaer J. A., 1973.A model relating developmental interaction and differential evolutionary reduction of tooth size. Evolution, 27: 427–434.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sofaer J. A., Bailit H. L. &MacLean C. L. 1971.A developmental basis for differential tooth reduction during Hominid evolution. Evolution, 25: 509–517.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Speth J. D., 1983.Bison kills and bone counts. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Steudel K., 1980.New estimates of early hominid body size. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 52: 63–70.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stini W. A., 1969.Nutritional stress and growth: sex differences in adaptive response. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 31: 417–426.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stini W. A., 1971.Evolutionary implications of changing nutritional patterns in human populations. American Anthropologist, 73: 1019–1030.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stringer, C., 1984.Human evolution and biological adaptation in the Pleistocene. In (R. Foley, Ed.) Hominid evolution and community ecology, pp. 55–78. London. Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Suarez B. K., 1974.Neandertal dental asymmetry and the Probable Mutation Effect. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 41: 411–416.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sussman R. W., 1972.Child transport, family size, and increase in human population during the Neolithic. Current Anthropology, 13: 258–259.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ward R. H. &Weiss K. M., 1976.The demographic evolution of human populations. Journal of Human Evolution, 5: 1–23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilkinson R. J. 1985.Prehistoric health and adaptation: Paradise lost? Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Denver, p. 150.

  • Williams R. C. 1978.The Probable Mutation Effect: neutral alleles and structural reduction. Human Biology, 50: 173–181.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wolfe L. D., &Gray J. P., 1982.Subsistence practices and human sexual dimorphism of stature. Journal of Human Evolution, 11: 575–580.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wolpoff M. H., 1969.The effect of mutations under conditions of reduced selection. Social Biology, 16: 11–23.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wolpoff M. H., 1971.Metric trends in Hominid dental evolution. Cleveland: Case Western Reserve University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wolpoff M. H., 1975.Dental reduction and the Probable Mutation Effect. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 43: 307–308.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wolpoff M. H., 1976a.Evolutionary aspects of hominid tooth reduction and early Hominid dental variation In (P. V. Tobias & Y. Coppens, Eds). Les plus anciens Hominides, pp. 318–406. Paris: Centre National de la Récherche Scientifique.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wolpoff M. H., 1976b.Some aspects of the evolution of early Hominid sexual dimorphism. Current Anthropology, 17: 579–606.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wright S., 1929.Fisher's theory of dominance. American Naturalist, 63: 274–279.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wright S., 1964.Pleiotropy in the evolution of structural reduction and dominance. American Naturalist, 98: 65–69.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Y'Edynak G., 1978.Culture, diet, and dental reduction in Mesolithic forager-fishers of Yugoslavia. Current Anthropology. 19: 616–618.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yudkin J., 1969.Archaeology and the nutritionist. In (P. J. Ucko & G. W. Dimbleby, Eds.) The domestication and exploitation of plants and animals, pp. 547–552. London: Duckworth.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratorio di Paleobiologia, Museo Archeologico Nazionale, via Villa Comunale, 3, 66100, Chieti, Italy

    R. Macchiarelli & L. Bondioli

Authors
  1. R. Macchiarelli
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. L. Bondioli
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Macchiarelli, R., Bondioli, L. Post-pleistocene reductions in human dental structure: a reappraisal in terms of increasing population density. Hum. Evol. 1, 405–417 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02436617

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02436617

Key words

Search

Navigation