Deciduous dental variation in Chalcolithic India: methods, metrics and meaning

Area of Science:

• Paleoanthropology
• Bioarchaeology
• Dental Anthropology

Background:

• Deciduous teeth in archaeological samples offer insights into prehistoric population adaptations but are often underutilized.
• Dental remains from the Chalcolithic site of Nevasa, India, provide a unique dataset for studying prehistoric dental variation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate odontometric methods using deciduous dental remains from Nevasa.
• To compare dental dimensions between Nevasa and Inamgaon, and with other South, Southeast, and East Asian prehistoric and living groups.
• To assess dental variation and biological adaptations in prehistoric Indian populations.

Main Methods:

• Measurement of mesiodistal (MD) and buccolingual (BL) dimensions of deciduous teeth by two researchers.
• Statistical evaluation of intra- and inter-observer precision in dental measurements.
• Comparison of mean crown dimensions and areas between Nevasa and Inamgaon, and with regional data.

Main Results:

• No significant differences were found in mean mesiodistal (MD), buccolingual (BL) dimensions, or mean crown areas between Nevasa (493.6 mm²) and Inamgaon (504.6 mm²).
• The distribution of crown area differed between incisor and molar tooth classes at Nevasa.
• Overall deciduous tooth crown size for both Nevasa and Inamgaon is intermediate compared to other regional prehistoric and living populations.

Conclusions:

• Deciduous tooth size reduction in South Asian prehistory parallels the documented trend for permanent teeth.
• Deciduous dental remains are valuable for reconstructing biological adaptations of prehistoric populations.
• Odontometric analysis of deciduous teeth provides significant insights into human evolutionary history and adaptation in India.