Abstract: The Dingsishan site, located in the Yongning district of Nanning City, Guangxi, uncovered abundant burials and cultural remains. This paper is based on the analysis on 2737 permanent teeth (particularly dental caries) from 169 individuals of Phase II-III at the site dated to 7-8 ka BP. Dental caries research provides important bioarchaeological information relating to behaviors of prehistoric occupants in southern China including oral health, diet, subsistence and social economy. This work indicates that Dingsishan inhabitants had high rates of caries, possibly due to large consumption of carbohydrates. The pattern of dental caries shows significant differences in sex, burial and age, and compared with eight other Neolithic sites in China, the high rate of dental caries may be because of the specific consumption of tubers and other sugarrich foods in South China. The occurrence of dental caries in three sites was similar even though agriculture was not yet established. During this early Neolithic, the subsistence at these three sites was dominated by fishing, hunting and gathering which indicates the need for more research studying the relationship between dental caries and subsistence.

Key words: Dentition; Dental caries; Pathology; Neolithic