Dental Wear in Evolutionary and Biocultural Contexts provides a single source for disseminating the current state-of-the-art research regarding dental wear across a variety of hominoid species under a number of temporal and spatial contexts. The volume begins with a brief introductory chapter addressing the general history, understandings and approaches to the study of dental wear. Remaining chapters cover dental macrowear and dental microwear. Students and professionals in anthropology, specifically paleoanthropologists, bioarcheologists, archaeologists, and primatologists will find this book to be a valuable resource. In addition, it is a helpful guide for dentists and other dental professionals interested in dental function.
- Covers a wide range of topics, including method and theory, macrowear and microwear in primates, and fossil hominins
- Highlights several recent technological innovations, including occlusal fingerprinting, considerations of enamel mechanical properties, and microwear texture
- Includes case studies from archaeological populations
1. An Introduction to Dental Wear in Evolutionary and Biocultural Contexts
2. Dental Macrowear in Catarrhine Primates: Variability Across Species
3. Diet and Cultural Diversity in Neanderthals and Modern Humans from Dental Macrowear Analyses
4. Macrowear and the Mechanical Behavior of Enamel
5. The Interplay of Behavioral and Occlusal Etiologies in Aberrant Dental Wear
6. Deconstructing Non-Carious Cervical Lesion on Teeth in Forensic Contexts
7. Dental Microwear Texture Analysis in Bioarchaeology
8. Dental Microwear Texture Analysis in Deciduous Teeth
9. Stable Carbon Isotope and Molar Microwear Variability of South African Australopiths in Relation to Paleohabitats and Taxonomy
10. Regional Variability in Diet Between Northern European and Mediterranean Neandertals: Evidence from Dental Microwear Texture Analysis
11. Dental Microwear Texture Analyses of the Paleoamericans of Lagoa Santa, Central-Eastern Brazil
Dr. Watsons research examines health and disease in prehistoric populations through their skeletal remains. He is specifically interested in understanding prehistoric human adaptations in desert ecosystems and the role local resources play in the adoption of agriculture and their impact on health. His current projects involve the excavation and analysis of the earliest farmers in the Sonoran Desert and of incipient agriculturalists in the Atacama Desert, along the northern coast of Chile.
