Is it health or the burial environment: differentiating between hypomineralised and post-mortem stained enamel in an archaeological context
| Autor: | Nancy Tayles, Rami Farah, Siân E. Halcrow, Jonathan M. Broadbent, Samantha K. McKay |
|---|---|
| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2013 |
| Předmět: |
X-ray microtomography
Burial Non-Clinical Medicine Archaeological Excavation Dentistry lcsh:Medicine Oral Health Social and Behavioral Sciences Diagnostic Radiology Historical Archaeology Deciduous teeth History of Medicine Child lcsh:Science Tooth Demineralization Multidisciplinary Geography Enamel paint Dentition Thailand Archaeobiology Biological Anthropology medicine.anatomical_structure Archaeology Child Preschool visual_art visual_art.visual_art_medium Medicine Autopsy Physical Anthropology Radiology Research Article Oral Medicine Context (language use) Biology Sensitivity and Specificity Archaeometry Computed Tomography stomatognathic system medicine Humans Tooth Deciduous Dental Enamel Experimental Archaeology business.industry lcsh:R Infant Reproducibility of Results Macroscopic observation X-Ray Microtomography stomatognathic diseases Mineral density Anthropology lcsh:Q business |
| Zdroj: | PLoS ONE, Vol 8, Iss 5, p e64573 (2013) PLoS ONE |
| ISSN: | 1932-6203 |
| Popis: | Developmental enamel defects are often used as indicators of general health in past archaeological populations. However, it can be difficult to macroscopically distinguish subtle hypomineralised opacities from post-mortem staining, unrelated to developmental defects. To overcome this difficulty, we have used non-destructive x-ray microtomography to estimate the mineral density of enamel. Using a sample of deciduous teeth from a prehistoric burial site in Northeast Thailand, we demonstrate that it is possible to determine whether observed enamel discolourations were more likely to be true hypomineralised lesions or artefacts occurring as the result of taphonomic effects. The analyses of our sample showed no evidence of hypomineralised areas in teeth with macroscopic discolouration, which had previously been thought, on the basis of macroscopic observation, to be hypomineralisations indicative of growth disruption. Our results demonstrate that x-ray microtomography can be a powerful, non-destructive method for the investigation of the presence and severity of hypomineralisation, and that diagnosis of enamel hypomineralisation based on macroscopic observation of buried teeth should be made with caution. This method makes it possible to identify true dental defects that are indicative of growth disruptions. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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