Cranial and Dental Pathologies in Mesolithic-Neolithic Inhabitants of the Danube Gorges, Serbia

Summary

We use anthropological data and a new statistical method to determine if there is a significant change to the health of people found in the Danube Gorges, Serbia (c. 9500–5500 BC), following the arrival of the Neolithic. A gross anatomical study of porotic hyperostosis and cribra orbitalia was undertaken on 113 individuals. The results show a high prevalence of porotic hyperostosis (89%) and a lower prevalence of cribra orbitalia (13%). 1308 teeth deriving from 89 individuals were examined for rate of tooth wear, caries, antemortem tooth loss and periapical lesions. Prevalence of caries increased after the Neolithic transition (6% vs. 10%). Whilst poor sanitation and various nutritional factors are probable causes of cranial pathologies, dietary practices and use of "teeth as tools" may have adversely affected dentitions of the observed individuals. Despite these new findings, rigorous statistical testing does not show a significant difference between adverse health indicators before or after the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 22011