engleski

Comparative analysis of dental health in two archaeological populations from Croatia: the late medieval Dugopolje and early modern Vlach population from Koprivno

Two skeletal series from the Dalmatian hinterland were examined for six dento-alveolar pathologies: caries, ante mortem tooth loss, abscesses, calculus, alveolar resorption and tooth wear. The aim of the research was to establish to what degree differences in subsistence strategies (pastoralists vs. agriculturalists) affected dental health. The first series consists of 30 skeletons from the late medieval Dugopolje site (13th - 16th century AD), the second of 30 skeletons from the early modern Koprivno Vlach site (15th -18th century). Different subsistence strategies in these sites resulted from Ottoman military intrusions and their conquest of large parts of Croatia, the catastrophic depopulation that followed, and the subsequent settlement of a new group of peoples known as Vlachs who practiced transhumance pastoralism. The results of our analysis show higher frequencies of calculus, alveolar resorption and heavy dental wear in the Late Medieval period, while higher frequencies of antemortem tooth loss (AMTL) and abscesses were recorded in the Vlach population. Caries frequencies are almost identical in both periods. These results are consistent with the hypothesis of differing diets in the two analyzed series with more protein in the Vlach Koprivno population and more carbohydrates in the late medieval agrarian Dugopolje population. Our results also suggest significant sex differences in the diet of the Vlach population with older females perhaps having reduced access to proteins in comparison to males. Additional research on larger samples will clarify if the trends noted in this study are valid.

dental health ; bioarchaeology ; endemic warfare ; Croatia

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