Identifying Canid Tooth Modification: A Side-by-side Comparison of 3D Imaging Techniques

Summary

In this paper, we evaluate the efficacy of two methods, namely photogrammetry and 3-D laser scanning, for the purpose of identifying cultural modification of bone, specifically canid teeth. Instances of dogs with altered canine and carnassial teeth have been observed in Plains Native American archaeological assemblages as well as in the ethnographic record of the Late Prehistoric era. The identification of this type of cultural modification will help interpret ways in which animal and human interactions have changed through the past. We use a comparison of two prevailing imaging techniques to compare how accurate they are for measuring degrees of destruction of canid teeth in order to identify evidence of cultural modification. We aim to demonstrate that this particular type of modification has a unique morphological signature that can fit within a likelihood model in order to determine a quantified basis for the evaluation of the presence of cultural modification. This methodology will lay the groundwork for examining other assemblages in hopes of detecting modification of canid teeth that have not previously been identified as such. Canid remains from two sites in Wyoming are used as examples of culturally modified dentition in dogs.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)   •
• New Methods in Zooarchaeology

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