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A cut-marked Neolithic human tooth from Ash Tree Shelter, Derbyshire, UK Ash Tree Cave and Ash Tree Shelter, Whitwell, Derbyshire
Abstract
Here we report the recovery of a human tooth, radiocarbon dated to the Neolithic period, from Ash Tree Shelter, near Whitwell in Derbyshire, United Kingdom. The tooth bears scratches on the labial surface of the crown. The morphology and position of these scratches suggest they were produced ante mortem (during the life of the individual) by a stone tool used to process food or other materials held between the jaws. The dating of the Ash Tree Shelter tooth to the Neolithic period adds to the corpus of later prehistoric human remains from caves in the Cadeby Formation. Its Early Neolithic age reveals it to be older than at least some of the prehistoric human remains from the adjacent site of Ash Tree Cave.
... There is no evidence of labial scratches, the most common feature in the SH sample. Actually, there are only a few examples of labial striations documented in Homo sapiens, and these include Neolithic individuals from the Sant Pau site (Spain) and Ash Tree Shelter (UK), the Chalcolithic remains from Mehgarh site (Pakistan) and medieval population from the L'Esquerda site (Spain) (Lukacs and Pastor, 1988;Lalueza Fox and P erez-P erez, 1992;Lalueza Fox and P erez-P erez, 1994;Dinnis et al., 2014). ...
Cultural dental wear provides useful information about the use of anterior teeth for non-masticatory purposes. Non-alimentary tasks are usually related to economic and cultural activities. The presence of cultural dental wear has been checked in four different Homo species from the Sierra de Atapuerca sites (Sima del Elefante, Gran Dolina-TD6, Sima de los Huesos and El Mirador cave). The chronology of these sites ranges from more than one million to 4000 years ago.Evidence of dental wear has been documented in the four Homo species analysed, confirming that hominins began using their teeth as tools as far back as one million years ago. Each species exhibits specific typologies and frequencies of dental wear features. Also, dental features are located on different dental surfaces and tooth types, indicating a diversity of activities carried out using the anterior teeth as a tool.The use of the teeth as a tool was a widespread habit in the genus Homo. However, the diversity of dental wear patterns can be related to cultural and economic activities, broadening our knowledge of the behaviour of ancient hominins.
Radiocarbon dating has played a pivotal role in establishing trajectories of decline and terminal dates for Late Quaternary Extinctions (LQEs) over the last 50,000 years. Absolute dating chronologies are essential to academic debate into understanding the causal factors for taxa’s disappearance, with Climatic Change and Anatomically Modern Human activity debated as the main drivers since the 1960s. Recent reviews of LQEs have highlighted issues with inaccurate and limited radiocarbon evidence for taxa, with a need to stop and expand restricted reliable datasets to prevent the continuation of circular arguments for the wrong timings and causes of extinction events. The project addresses these issues via evaluating past and present extirpation theories and current radiocarbon evidence for 1 taxon, spotted hyaena (Crocuta crocuta) in N.W. Europe. A 3 phase strategy is devised to tackle the paucity of reliable chronometric dating evidence. Site candidate lists are obtained for redating and new dating programmes for each phase, while potential benefits and limitations to the method are discussed, alongside a consideration into the relevance of studying extirpated hyaenas to aid conservation efforts for extant relatives in East and Southern Africa.
A samole of 82 anterior teeth from Krapina (Croatia) was studied using a light binocular microscope and a scanning electron microscope to document the presence of non-dietary dental scratches. The patterns of distribution, location and orientation of these marks suggest two different aetiologies: scratches on the labial-occlusal enamel border appear to be related to the action of clenching abrasive materials between teeth, while the scratches primarily in the centre of the labial face correspond to cutmarks as described by other researchers. These scratches may have been produced when flake tools involved in processing materials held between the anterior teeth came into contact with the labial enamel face. Alternatively, they may simply reflect some consistent operation which pulled hard objects across the labial surfaces of the anterior teeth. In either case, the marks on the central face of the labial surface provide evidence for manual dexterity in the Neanderthals. Of the seven Krapina individuals which show a predominant pattern, one shows a pattern of left oblique marks, while six provide evidence of right-handedness. Coupled with other Neanderthal or Upper Pleistocene individuals with these patterns, right-handedness is the dominant pattern in 90 per cent of the documented cases. One complication factor in the analysis of these scratches in the Krapina hominids is that marks of a similar morphology are found in several anterior teeth of Ursus spelaeus from the site. While resembling the marks on the hominid incisors, the scratches on the bears lack a dominant orientation on the labial face and appear to be more variable in their widths. Despite the occurence of some similarities in the enamel scratches between ursids and hominids at Karpina, the study of anterior dental marks provided information about manipulative activities which are unique to ancient humans.
A sample of 24 teeth from 10 human fossils have been examined by Scanning Electron Microscope. Large striations attributable
to feeding behavior (dental cutmarks) and/or topost-mortem damage have been found in five of the specimens (Broken Hill, Tabun I, Skhul 4, La Quina 5 and Malarnaud). At high magnification,
it is possible to observe differences between the internal morphology of these structures andpost-mortem striations that were probably inadvertently made during the process of study and cleaning the fossil remains. Cutmarks can
be related to the behavior of placing meat or other matter between the anterior teeth while cutting pieces of it with a stone
tool. The presence of this type of scratching on the enamel surface of teeth might be indirectly used as indicative of meat
consumption.
Seven Vindija (Croatia) Neandertal teeth, dated about 32,000 years ago, were analyzed to determine patterning of scratches on the anterior teeth. Oblique scratches exclusively on the labial faces of incisors and canines represent a distinctive pattern, characteristic of hand directed, non-masticatory activities. At Vindija and elsewhere these scratches reveal activities, which were performed primarily with the right hand. The late Neandertals from Vindija, combined with other studies, show that European Neandertals were predominately right-handed with a ratio 15:2 (88.2%), a frequency similar to living people. Studies of teeth from Atapuerca extend this modern ratio to more than 500,000 years ago and increase the frequency of right- handers in the European fossil record to almost 94%. Species-wide, preferential right-handedness is a defining feature of modern Homo sapiens, tied to brain laterality and language with the 9:1 ratio of right- to left- handers - a reflection of the link between left hemispheric dominance and language. Up-to-date behavioral and anatomical studies of Neandertal fossils and the recent discovery of their possession of the FOXP2 gene indicate Neandertals (and, very likely, their European ancestors) had linguistic capacities similar to living humans.
ANTIQUITY's recent report on direct radiocarbon dates for human bone from Welsh caves had them concentrated in two distinct Postglacial periods. The larger pattern for Britain as a whole is also striking.
This chapter reviews the mammalian biostratigraphic scheme for the Late Pleistocene of the British Isles proposed some years ago. As in the original chapter, the faunas of this time are seen as forming a sequence of mammal assemblage-zones. The most significant change concerns the fauna of the Banwell Bone Cave mammal assemblage-zone, now seen as a cool fauna existing in a warm stage (MIS 5a) during a time of insularity. For the first time, we are led to speculate on the faunas of the Dimlington Stadial and that part of the Lateglacial that is younger than Gough's Cave. This has been made possible by new ultrafiltered radiocarbon determinations on bone.
In an effort to make measurements readily available as soon as possible, dates from the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator will now be published regularly in Archaeometry. These datelists will not be a substitute for final publication in Radiocarbon, which is desirable for all dates, but are intended to serve as a formal interim publication of dates, so that they can be cited.
All mandibular teeth with preserved enamel from Banyoles (Girona, Northeast of Spain, 45,000-100,000 BP) have been analysed with a scanning electron microscope and image analyser system. The high proportion of teeth showing dental wear can be correlated to manipulative activities and to mastication of a hard and abrasive diet. Comparisons of the buccal striation pattern observed from the teeth from Banyoles shares many similarities with modern hunter-gatherer groups whose diet is largely vegetarian (Bushmen, Australian Aborigines and Andaman Islanders). The distal root of a second, left molar from Banyoles shows an interproximal groove which has not been previously described. This groove is similar to those observed from other teeth of Pleistocene age and may be attributed to the repeated use of a toothpick.
We show through blind tests that marks inflicted on bone surfaces by carnivore teeth, hammerstone percussion, and metal knife cutting and scraping can be distinguished with near perfect reliability without scanning electron microscopy or consideration of only conspicuous marks. Using low-cost and high-volume hand lens and low-power light microscope techniques, we determined the presence or absence of conspicuous and inconspicuous marks with 97% three-way correspondence, and diagnosed marks of known origin to actor and effector with 99% accuracy. Novices with less than 3h training on control collections correctly diagnosed 86% of classic but mainly inconspicuous marks. Novices spending several more hours studying control specimens elevated their diagnostic accuracy on morphologically representative marks to near-expert levels of 95%.Our results show that published cautions about mimicry among cut marks, percussion marks, and carnivore tooth marks are overstated. All types of marks examined can be identified reliably, regardless of conspicuousness. As such, fully standardized comparisons of mark frequencies can be drawn among assemblages, even those documented by different analysts. However, such robust interpretations can be attained only if analysts base diagnoses on (a) a firm familiarity with bones marked under strictly controlled conditions, (b) the systematic application of published morphological and contextual criteria, and (c) the use of prescribed low-power magnification techniques.
Over the past four decades several workers have argued that the orientations of striations on the labial surfaces of the front teeth of Middle and Late Pleistocene fossils attributed to Neanderthals and antecedent archaic hominids can tell us something about handedness. These researchers have suggested that such scratches result from stone tools scraping across the incisors during ‘stuff-and-cut’ behaviours, and that they reflect directions of hand movements and handedness. In this study, we examine comparable wear features on the incisors of anatomically modern humans to determine whether striation angle may reflect handedness. The teeth from 66 individuals representing four groups with known differences in subsistence practices (Aleut, Arikara, Illinois Bluff, and Puye) were examined. Photomicrographs were made of the maxillary central incisor labial surfaces of all individuals at 56× magnification. These photomicrographs were scanned to image files, and orientations of all visible wear striations were measured using a semi-automated image analysis procedure. Approximately three-quarters of all labial surfaces showed a preferred striation orientation. Of those, most had preferred apico-cervical or vertical striation orientations, independent of cultural affiliation. Few showed the tendency toward diagonally-oriented scratches expected if handedness is related to scratch orientation. We found no evidence for ‘stuff-and-cut’ striations, despite the fact that at least one of the groups studied—the Aleut—are documented to have used this behaviour. In sum, there is evidently no relationship between striation orientation and handedness in the groups studied. It is, therefore, unlikely that labial scratch orientation in Middle and Late Pleistocene hominids reflects handedness if they used their front teeth in a manner comparable to that of any of the anatomically modern groups considered here. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Experiments were performed to establish correlations between the edge characteristics of a series of tools and the marks they produce when applied to bone. Pressure and angle of application, length of blade, and motion used during the cutting stroke, were found to be important variables that affect the shape of tool marks. Using cross sections of butchering marks from archaeological sites, it was possible to establish associations between various classes of tools and specific tasks.
The Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit (ORAU) has used an ultrafiltration protocol to further purify gelatin from archaeological bone since 2000. In this paper, the methodology is described, and it is shown that, in many instances, ultrafiltration successfully removes low molecular weight contaminants that less rigorous methods may not. These contami- nants can sometimes be of a different radiocarbon age and, unless removed, may produce erroneous determinations, particu- larly when one is dating bones greater than 2 to 3 half-lives of 14C and the contaminants are of modern age. Results of the redating of bone of Late Middle and Early Upper Paleolithic age from the British Isles and Europe suggest that we may need to look again at the traditional chronology for these periods.
Cutmarks found on the fossilised bones of butchered animals provide direct evidence for the procurement of meat through technological means. As such, they hold some of the oldest available information on cognitive ability and behaviour in human evolution. Here we present a new method that allows a three-dimensional reconstruction of cutmark morphology and the quantification of profile parameters. We have tested this new technique on cutmarks that were experimentally inflicted on a pig rib using a steel knife and an un-retouched flint flake at different angles.
The method allows for the cross-sectional shape, the sharpness and depths of the resulting cutmarks to be quantified. The data show that knife mark sections are characterised by a V-shape or √-shape depending on the inclination of the knife. Cutmarks produced with the flint flake were less clearly defined and generally less sharp than those produced by the knife. We discuss the method's potential to provide new information on butchery technique and cognitive abilities developed by the human lineage, from the earliest tool-using hominins through to modern Homo sapiens.
Since stone tool cut marks and carnivore tooth marks were first described systematically on Plio-Pleistocene archaeological bone1,2, bone surface modification has played a prominent role in interpreting early archaeological site formation and hominid behaviour3–15. Here we introduce a new class of bone surface modification, which we call percussion marks. Percussion marks were produced during experimental breakage of marrow bones, and occur as pits or grooves impressed on a bone's surface by natural protrusions on the granitic hammerstone and anvil used. Although percussion marks can superficially mimic carnivore tooth marks, they nonetheless are closely associated with hammerstone impact notches and show consistent micromorphological features which distinguish them from tooth marks and other classes of bone surface modification. Given indications of prehistoric hammer-stone breakage of marrow bones1,7, an awareness of percussion marks is critical for accurately identifying the biological agents of bone modification at archaeological sites and provides a new diagnostic of carcass processing by hominids.
The surfaces of teeth from some fossil remains and archaeological samples have been examined by SEM, in order to study different types of cultural striations and to determine the archaeological information that these striations can provide. Different patterns of cultural striations are present in human samples from different sites and periods. Similar cultural striations can be interpreted in different ways, depending on the tooth in which they are present, their location in the tooth and their direction, regularity, number and width. The study of cultural striations can yield valuable information about different aspects of feeding behaviour, oral hygiene, patterns of cultural diffusion and manipulative work with teeth of past human groups. A close integration with other anthropological and archaeological data is needed and specific interpretations should be made in each case.
Presentation de la 21e liste de datations par radiocarbone realisees au laboratoire d'Oxford et concernant : des echantillons fauniques, floraux et environnementaux provenant de Grande-Bretagne, des restes humains provenant de Grande-Bretagne et de Belgique, de sites paleolithiques de Pologne, Moldavie, Russie et Ukraine, de sites mesolithiques de Grande-Bretagne, de Belgique, d'Allemagne et de Suede, de sites neolithiques et plus recents de Grande-Bretagne et d'Irlande, et de sites de Mediterannee orientale, d'Asie centrale et du sud-est, d'Egypte, d'Afrique sub-saharienne et d'Amerique du sud
The presence of gross preferentially distributed striations on the buccal surfaces of permanent anterior teeth of Neandertal individuals from La Quina, Hortus and Angles-sur-l'Anglin (France), Saint Brais (Switzerland) and Shanidar (Iraq) has led some authors to hypothesize that Neandertals used stone tools to cut something held between the anterior teeth, inadvertently scratching the enamel at the same time. We also observe these striations on the anterior teeth of Middle Pleistocene hominids from Atapuerca/Ibeas, Spain, on the incisors of La Quina 5, and on one isolated I1 from Cova Negra, Spain. Macro- and microscopic studies of these striations, together with those striations produced in an experimental study suggest that scratching of these hominid anterior teeth was indeed the result of ante-mortem tool use, producing striations indicating right- (normally) or left-handedness (rarely). These results provide indirect evidence for lateralization of the brain of Middle and early Upper Pleistocene hominids.
The differentiation between animal gnawing marks and human cutmarks on bones meets with difficulties, as reliable criteria are rare. Marks on human bones from a neolithic collective grave were compared with gnawing scratches produced in feeding experiments and slicing marks made with various flint knives. Statistical analysis showed the Odagsen marks to differ markedly from cutmarks but to compare with gnawing scratches in form features regarding width and depth. A very distinctive “splitting-effect” characterized most of the experimentally produced cutmarks. The criterion of striations in slicing marks, proposed by Shipman (1981), had to be dismissed, as longitudinal striations were found in carnivore tooth scratches as well.
In 1995-1996 two isolated hominin lower incisors were found at the middle Pleistocene site of Boxgrove in England, with Lower Palaeolithic archaeology. Boxgrove 2 is a permanent lower right central incisor and Boxgrove 3 a permanent lower left lateral incisor. They were found separately, but close to one another and appear to belong to the same individual. The Boxgrove 1 tibia discovered in 1993 came from a different stratigraphic context and is thus believed to represent a different individual. This paper describes the morphology of the incisors, which is similar to other middle Pleistocene hominin specimens and, as with the tibia, suggests that they could be assigned to Homo heidelbergensis (recognising that the taxonomic status of this species is still a matter of debate). The incisors show substantial attrition associated with secondary dentine deposition in the pulp chamber and clearly represent an adult. They also show extensive patterns of non-masticatory scratches on the labial surfaces of both crown and root, including some marks which may have been made postmortem. The roots were exposed in life on their labial sides by a large dehiscence, extending almost to the root apex. This is demonstrated by deposits of calculus, polishing, and scratching on the exposed surfaces. The dehiscence may have been caused by repeated trauma to the gingivae or remodelling of the tooth-supporting tissues in response to large forces applied to the front of the dentition.
A method is described that will indicate the direction that an abrasive particle was traveling as it scored the surface of a brittle material. Light and scanning electron micrographs of glass, dentine, and enamel abraded by loose and, steel carbide, and diamond indicate that partial Hertzian fracture cones are formed at the margins of wear striations during abrasion. The bases of these fracture cones face in the direction of travel of the abrasive particle and, therefore, indicate directionality. Because this method is based only on the consistent geometry of fracturing of brittle materials, it is independent of the loading of the abrasive particle. The only other method available to determine directionality of striations is unreliable since it uses the width of striations, and, hence, is dependent upon a consistent loading regime of the abrasive particle. This new method has direct application for determining the direction of movement of the jaws during mastication in living or fossil animals.
Atypical wear and oral lesions were studied in the dental remains from the Middle Neolithic Pitted Ware Culture site Ajvide on the island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea. Teeth (n = 764) from 17 males and 11 females were examined microscopically to document unusual wear, assess wear patterns and oral lesions as evidence of habitual behavior, and determine their effect on the oral health of this population. Five atypical wear types were observed: occlusal facets, occlusal excessive load, labial vertical striae, labial horizontal striae, and interproximal striae. Three oral lesions were recorded: chipping, periapical lesions, and dental tilting. Results indicate that teeth were used in a habitual manner at Ajvide, based on the morphology and regularity of the patterns of atypical wear. Differences were observed between the sexes, indicating gender-related differences in the habitual use of teeth. Some wear categories showed a significant correlation with age, signifying increased or accumulated wear with age. Statistically significant positive correlations were found in the molars between occlusal excessive load wear and periapical lesions as well as tilting. Other apparent links were also observed between chipping and vertical striae as well as excessive load, although these were not significant. This suggests a relationship between dental wear and dental pathologies at this site, suggesting that habitual use of teeth indirectly affected the general oral health at the site. Wear patterns, furthermore, seem to mirror both frequent activities as well as single events.
In this study we examine the labial and occlusal surfaces of incisors and canines of hominins recovered from the Sima de los Huesos (SH), middle Pleistocene site, in order to establish the possible extra-masticatory use of anterior teeth. We have compared the microwear of these fossils with microwear from the anterior teeth of Australian Aborigines, a population characterized by ethnographic evidence of the use of their teeth as a third hand. These two samples of teeth were microscopically analyzed using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Our results support the "cultural" origin of microwear observed on fossil teeth: we conclude that the SH hominins used their anterior teeth as a "third hand" for para- or extra-masticatory activities.
A review of the archaeological caves of the Creswell region. 36-41 in Bahn
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Going Underground: An Anthropological and Taphonomic Study of Human Skeletal Remains from Caves and Rock Shelters in Yorkshire
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A Gazetteer of English Caves, Fissures and Rock Shelters Containing Human Remains. (Revised version
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