Thesis title: L'usura dentale extramasticatoria come prova di attività lavorative ...
Among skeletal remains, teeth are valuable sources of information on various aspects of past human lives, including survival strategies, age at death, health status, genetic relationships and individual mobility (Hillson 2005; White 2005, Schmidt, Watson 2020). Dental wear is also particularly useful in the reconstruction of dietary patterns in populations with different subsistence strategies. Furthermore, numerous analyses of prehistoric human samples have revealed the use of teeth in the production of various cultural objects (Larsen 1985; Larsen et al. 1988; Brown, Molnar 1990; Cruwys et al. 1992; Frayer, Minozzi 2002; Minozzi et al. 2003; Bonfiglioli et al. 2004; Eshed et al. 2006; Ravy et al. 2006; Molnar 2008, 2011; Lorkiewicz 2011; Irvine et al. 2014; Tanga et al. 2016; Monaco et al. 2022). In past societies (but even today, in daily practice), teeth are also used as “third hand” and/or “tool” (Lozano et al. 2008 Frayer et al. 2010, 2016; Volpato et al. 2012; Fiore et al. 2015; Condemi et al. 2017; Krueger et al. 2019, Crété et al. 2024). These activities leave various types of traces that can also alter the morphology of the tooth; such modifications fall within the wear patterns that are defined as extra-masticatory in order to distinguish them from those related to food chewing, which are usually different.
The analysis of dental modifications due to extra-masticatory use of teeth therefore contributes to the reconstruction of past life habits, through the identification of specific productive activities carried out with the help of teeth, as well as of possible divisions by sex, age and/or social status of the individuals within a community in the accomplishment of productive activities.
The analysis of dental modifications due to extra-masticatory use has been applied to Italian archaeological samples, mostly in a partial way, sometimes just describing the most unusual macroscopic cases, and only more rarely the studies have been more systematic and involving the whole sample (Belcastro et al. 2001, 2004, 2005; Bonfiglioli et al. 2007, Sperduti et al. 2012, 2018; Dori, Cecchi 2014; Lazzati et al. 2016; Tanga et al. 2016; Monaco et al. 2022). There are still numerous sites whose anthropological remains are missing the analysis of extra-masticatory wear patterns with a consequent lack of data that could contribute to the reconstruction of past activities and social organization.
To date, there is no bibliographic reference, concerning Italian sites, that simultaneously takes into account several samples for a synchronic (geographical differences) and diachronic comparison over the time period between the Mesolithic and the Roman Late Antiquity.
In addition, with reference to the single traces/uses (due to pathologies, chewing or other activities such as cleaning, instrument, third hand) there are several studies describing such traces only at macroscopic and qualitative level (Frayer, Minozzi 2003; Scott, Burgett 2007, Erdal 2008, Condemi et al. 2017, Xing et al. 2017), some researchers examine them more in depth with microscopic, morphometric analysis (Minozzi et al. 2003; Frayer et al. 2010, 2012; Fiore et al. 2015; Sperduti et al. 2018) and even more rarely data on the depth and profiles of the sections of the modifications are reported (Ungar et al. 2003; Scott et al. 2005; Krueger, Ungar 2010, Krueger et al. 2019; Mahajan 2019). Other research was aimed at developing software for quantification of data (Strani et al. 2017).