Abstract:

Tooth wear is closely related to human subsistence activities and is a common physiological phenomenon observed on human remains excavated from archaeological sites. It possesses significant research value in fields such as physical anthropology and archaeology. Currently, numerous scholars both at home and abroad have conducted research on tooth wear in ancient populations, yielding a wealth of findings. However, a systematic review is still lacking.

This paper reviews and summarizes the common types and influencing factors of tooth wear in ancient inhabitants based on relevant research results from both domestic and international sources. Macroscopically, tooth wear can present morphologically as flat, oblique, rounded, spoon-shaped, cup-shaped, and groove wear. Microscopically, it can be further classified into striations and pits. Factors influencing tooth wear include age, food structure, food processing techniques, socioeconomic types, and specific human behavioral patterns that may lead to distinctive wear phenomena. Moreover, factors such as chewing methods, chewing frequency, occlusal relationships between the upper and lower jaws, and the developmental status of teeth also affect tooth wear to a certain extent.

Research on tooth wear can be applied to infer the individual age at death, explore the dietary structure and socioeconomic patterns of ancient populations, elucidate ancient labor behaviors and social division of labor, reconstruct the patterns of weaning and feeding in children, as well as the functional restoration of occlusal relationships between the upper and lower dental arches. Based on differences in research purposes and subjects, the academic community has proposed specialized observation methods and grading standards for evaluating the degree of tooth wear. Nevertheless, there is currently no unified grading method or standard for tooth wear.

Overall, exploring the dietary conditions and subsistence patterns of ancient populations from different archaeological sites in China through tooth wear is a major research focus of ancient human tooth wear studies in China. Significant research achievements have revealed the dietary conditions and subsistence patterns of populations from various archaeological sites. In terms of time, these sites are mainly concentrated from the Neolithic Age to the early Iron Age. Geographically, research on tooth wear in ancient Chinese populations is mainly distributed in the Central Plains and the northwestern border regions of China, with relatively fewer studies in the southern regions. Compared with international research, domestic studies on ancient human tooth wear still face limitations such as narrow research perspectives, lack diversity in research focus and homogeneous content. Future research could benefit from innovations in research fields, ideas, and methods to fill the gaps and achieve further progress.

Key words: ancient populations, teeth, tooth wear