Permanent molar trait expression in the Late Neolithic cave burials of the Meuse Basin, Belgium
Main Article Content
Abstract
At least 250 cave burials along the Meuse river basin of Belgium yield prehistoric remains, and most date from the Late Neolithic period. Several have been radiocarbon dated, including the early/late Neolithic deposits of Hastière Caverne M and Hastière Trou Garçon C and the final/late Neolithic caves of Sclaigneaux and Bois Madame. An additional collective burial, Maurenne Caverne de la Cave is radiocarbon dated to the Middle Neolithic and final/late Neolithic periods, circa 4,635 to 3,830 BP, encompassing the range of dates for the other collective burials. Most individuals are represented by fragmentary gnathic remains with in situ dental elements. Arizona State University Dental Anthropology System (ASUDAS) scores of permanent molars are employed to examine whether differences within and between the caves exist, and whether chronology and ecogeography can account for the variation in traits. The final/late Neolithic cave of Sclaigneaux, the most geographically distinct cave burial, and Hastière Caverne M, possibly the earliest site, emerge as the most distinctive. The final/late Neolithic sites of Sclaigneaux and Bois Madame exhibit the greatest variability of trait expression. These results bear on the mobility and continuity of human groups in Belgium during the terminus of the Neolithic prior to the Bronze Age.
References
Alt, K. W., Pichler, S., Vach, W., Klima, B., Vl?ek, E. & Sedlmeier, J. (1997). Twenty-five thousand-year-old triple burial from Dolní V?stonice: an Ice-Age family? American Journal of Physical Anthropology 102, 123-131.
Bailey, S. E. (2008). Inter- and intra-specific variation in Pan tooth crown morphology: implications for Neandertal taxonomy. In J. D. Irish & G. C. Nelson (Eds.), Technique and application in dental anthropology (pp. 293-316). Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press.
Bentley, G. R. (1991). A bioarchaeological reconstruction of the social and kinship systems at early Bronze Age Bab Edh-Dhra', Jordan. In S. A. Gregg (Ed.), Between bands and states (pp. 5-34). Carbondale, Illinois: Center for Archaeological Investigations, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale Occasional Paper No.9.
Bronk-Ramsey, C., Higham, T. F. G., Owen, D. C., Pike, W. G., Hedges, R. E. M. (2002). Radiocarbon dates from the Oxford AMS system: datelist 31. Archaeometry 44(3) Supplement 1, 1-149.
Corruccini, R. S. & Shimada, I. (2002). Dental relatedness corresponding to mortuary patterning at Huaca Loro, Peru. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 117, 118-121.
Dumbruch, I. (2003). Edute du site de l’abri-sous-roche du “Bois-Madame”, Néolithique, à Arbre, dans la vallée du Burnot (Province de Namur). Etude anthropologique et archéologique, Volume I et II. MA thesis, Université Libre de Bruxelles.
Dumbruch, I. (2007). Le Site de l'Abri-sous-Roche du "Bois-Madame" à Arbre (Province de Namur, Belgique). Archæologia Mosellana 7, 609-612.
García-Martin, C. (2000). Reconstitution du régime alimentaire par l’étude des micro-traces d’usure dentaire. MA thesis, Université Libre de Bruxelles.
Hardin, A. M. & Legge, S. S. (2013). Geographic variation in nonmetric dental traits of the deciduous molars of Pan and Gorilla. International Journal of Primatology 34, 1000-1019.
Howell, T. L. & Kintigh, K. W. (1996). Archaeological identification of kin groups using mortuary and biological data: an example from the American Southwest. American Antiquity 61, 537-554.
Irish, J. D. (2006). Who were the ancient Egyptians? Dental affinities among Neolithic through postdynastic peoples. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 22, 529-543.
Jacobi, K. P. (1997). Dental genetic structuring of a colonial Maya cemetery, Tipu, Belize. In S. L. Whittington & D. M. Reed (Eds.), Bones of the Maya: studies of ancient skeletons (pp. 138-153). Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press.
López-Onaindia, D. & Subirà, M. E. (2017). Prehistoric funerary complexity in northern Iberia studied using dental morphology. Homo: Journal of Comparative Human Biology 68, 122-133.
López-Onaindia, D., Coca, M., Gibaja, J. F. & Subirà, M. E. (2018). Biological differences related to cultural variability during the Neolithic in a micro-geographical area of the Iberian Peninsula. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 10, 1957-1969.
Lukacs, J. R. & Pal, J. N. (2013). Dental morphology of early Holocene foragers of North India: non-metric trait frequencies and biological affinities. Homo: Journal of Comparative Human Biology 64, 411-436.
McHugh, M. L. (2012). Interrater reliability: The kappa statistic. Biochemica Medica 22, 276-282.
Orban, R., Polet, C., Semal, P. & Leguebe, A. (2000). La stature des Néolithiques mosans. Bulletin de l’Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique-Sciences de la Terre 70, 207-222.
Paepe de, M. (2007). Studie van de laat-neolithische menselijke resten uit een collectief graf te Sclaigneaux (provincie Namen, B.). MA thesis, Universiteit Gent.
Pilloud, M. A. (2009). Community structure at Neolithic Çatalhöyük: biological distance analysis of household, neighborhood, and settlement. Ph.D. dissertation. The Ohio State University.
Pilloud, M. A. & Larsen, C. S. (2011). “Official” and “practical” kin: inferring social and community structure from dental phenotype at Neolithic Çatalhöyük, Turkey. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 145, 519-530.
Polet, C. (2011). Les squelettes néolithiques découverts dans les grottes du basin mosan. In N. Cauwe, A. Hauzeur, I. Jadin, C. Polet & B. Vanmontfort (Eds.), 5200-2000 av. J.- C. Premiers Agriculteurs en Belgique (pp. 85-94). Éditions du Cedarc.
Scott, G. R. & Turner, C. G., II (1997). The anthropology of modern human teeth: dental morphology and its variation in recent human populations. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press.
Scott, G. R., Turner, C. G., II, Townsend, G. C. & Martinón-Torres, M. (2018). The anthropology of modern human teeth: dental morphology and its variation in recent and fossil Homo sapiens, 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Semal, P., García Martín, C., Polet, C. & Richards, M. P. (1999). Considération sur l'alimentation des Néolithiques du Bassin mosan: usures dentaires et analyses isotopiques du collagène osseux. Notae Praehistoricae 19, 127-135.
Smith, B. H. (1984). Patterns of molar wear in hunter-gatherers and agriculturalists. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 63, 39-56.
Stojanowski, C. M., & Schillaci, M. A. (2006). Phenotypic approaches for understanding patterns of intracemetery biological variation. Yearbook of Physical Anthropology 49, 49-88.
Subirà, M. E., López-Onaindia, D. & Yll, R. (2014). Cultural changes in funeral rites during the Neolithic in the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula? The Cave of Pantà de Foix (Barcelona). International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 26, 104-113.
Toussaint, M. (2007). Les sépultures Néolithiques du basin mosan Wallon et leurs relations avec les bassins de la Seine et du Rhin. Archaeologia Mosellana 7, 507-549.
Toussaint, M., Orban, R., Polet, C., Semal, P., Bocherens, H., Masy, P. & García Martín, C. (2001). Apports récents sur l’anthropologie des Mésolithiques et des Néolithiques mosans. Anthropologica et Préhistorica 112, 91-105.
Turner, C. G., II, Nichol, C., & Scott, G. R. (1991). Scoring procedures for key morphological traits of the permanent dentition: The Arizona State University dental anthropology system. In M. A. Kelley & C. S. Larsen (Eds.), Advances in dental anthropology (pp. 13–31). New York: Wiley-Liss.
Vanderveken, S. (1997). Etude anthropologique des sépultures néolithiques de Maurenne et Hastière (province de Namur). MA thesis, Université Libre de Bruxelles.
Waters-Rist, A., Bazaliiskii, V. I., Goriunova, O. I., Weber, A. W. & Katzenberg, M. A. (2016). Evaluating the biological discontinuity hypothesis of Cis-Baikal Early versus Late Neolithic-Early Bronze Age populations using dental nonmetric traits. Quaternary International 405, 122-133.
Bailey, S. E. (2008). Inter- and intra-specific variation in Pan tooth crown morphology: implications for Neandertal taxonomy. In J. D. Irish & G. C. Nelson (Eds.), Technique and application in dental anthropology (pp. 293-316). Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press.
Bentley, G. R. (1991). A bioarchaeological reconstruction of the social and kinship systems at early Bronze Age Bab Edh-Dhra', Jordan. In S. A. Gregg (Ed.), Between bands and states (pp. 5-34). Carbondale, Illinois: Center for Archaeological Investigations, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale Occasional Paper No.9.
Bronk-Ramsey, C., Higham, T. F. G., Owen, D. C., Pike, W. G., Hedges, R. E. M. (2002). Radiocarbon dates from the Oxford AMS system: datelist 31. Archaeometry 44(3) Supplement 1, 1-149.
Corruccini, R. S. & Shimada, I. (2002). Dental relatedness corresponding to mortuary patterning at Huaca Loro, Peru. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 117, 118-121.
Dumbruch, I. (2003). Edute du site de l’abri-sous-roche du “Bois-Madame”, Néolithique, à Arbre, dans la vallée du Burnot (Province de Namur). Etude anthropologique et archéologique, Volume I et II. MA thesis, Université Libre de Bruxelles.
Dumbruch, I. (2007). Le Site de l'Abri-sous-Roche du "Bois-Madame" à Arbre (Province de Namur, Belgique). Archæologia Mosellana 7, 609-612.
García-Martin, C. (2000). Reconstitution du régime alimentaire par l’étude des micro-traces d’usure dentaire. MA thesis, Université Libre de Bruxelles.
Hardin, A. M. & Legge, S. S. (2013). Geographic variation in nonmetric dental traits of the deciduous molars of Pan and Gorilla. International Journal of Primatology 34, 1000-1019.
Howell, T. L. & Kintigh, K. W. (1996). Archaeological identification of kin groups using mortuary and biological data: an example from the American Southwest. American Antiquity 61, 537-554.
Irish, J. D. (2006). Who were the ancient Egyptians? Dental affinities among Neolithic through postdynastic peoples. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 22, 529-543.
Jacobi, K. P. (1997). Dental genetic structuring of a colonial Maya cemetery, Tipu, Belize. In S. L. Whittington & D. M. Reed (Eds.), Bones of the Maya: studies of ancient skeletons (pp. 138-153). Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press.
López-Onaindia, D. & Subirà, M. E. (2017). Prehistoric funerary complexity in northern Iberia studied using dental morphology. Homo: Journal of Comparative Human Biology 68, 122-133.
López-Onaindia, D., Coca, M., Gibaja, J. F. & Subirà, M. E. (2018). Biological differences related to cultural variability during the Neolithic in a micro-geographical area of the Iberian Peninsula. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 10, 1957-1969.
Lukacs, J. R. & Pal, J. N. (2013). Dental morphology of early Holocene foragers of North India: non-metric trait frequencies and biological affinities. Homo: Journal of Comparative Human Biology 64, 411-436.
McHugh, M. L. (2012). Interrater reliability: The kappa statistic. Biochemica Medica 22, 276-282.
Orban, R., Polet, C., Semal, P. & Leguebe, A. (2000). La stature des Néolithiques mosans. Bulletin de l’Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique-Sciences de la Terre 70, 207-222.
Paepe de, M. (2007). Studie van de laat-neolithische menselijke resten uit een collectief graf te Sclaigneaux (provincie Namen, B.). MA thesis, Universiteit Gent.
Pilloud, M. A. (2009). Community structure at Neolithic Çatalhöyük: biological distance analysis of household, neighborhood, and settlement. Ph.D. dissertation. The Ohio State University.
Pilloud, M. A. & Larsen, C. S. (2011). “Official” and “practical” kin: inferring social and community structure from dental phenotype at Neolithic Çatalhöyük, Turkey. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 145, 519-530.
Polet, C. (2011). Les squelettes néolithiques découverts dans les grottes du basin mosan. In N. Cauwe, A. Hauzeur, I. Jadin, C. Polet & B. Vanmontfort (Eds.), 5200-2000 av. J.- C. Premiers Agriculteurs en Belgique (pp. 85-94). Éditions du Cedarc.
Scott, G. R. & Turner, C. G., II (1997). The anthropology of modern human teeth: dental morphology and its variation in recent human populations. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press.
Scott, G. R., Turner, C. G., II, Townsend, G. C. & Martinón-Torres, M. (2018). The anthropology of modern human teeth: dental morphology and its variation in recent and fossil Homo sapiens, 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Semal, P., García Martín, C., Polet, C. & Richards, M. P. (1999). Considération sur l'alimentation des Néolithiques du Bassin mosan: usures dentaires et analyses isotopiques du collagène osseux. Notae Praehistoricae 19, 127-135.
Smith, B. H. (1984). Patterns of molar wear in hunter-gatherers and agriculturalists. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 63, 39-56.
Stojanowski, C. M., & Schillaci, M. A. (2006). Phenotypic approaches for understanding patterns of intracemetery biological variation. Yearbook of Physical Anthropology 49, 49-88.
Subirà, M. E., López-Onaindia, D. & Yll, R. (2014). Cultural changes in funeral rites during the Neolithic in the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula? The Cave of Pantà de Foix (Barcelona). International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 26, 104-113.
Toussaint, M. (2007). Les sépultures Néolithiques du basin mosan Wallon et leurs relations avec les bassins de la Seine et du Rhin. Archaeologia Mosellana 7, 507-549.
Toussaint, M., Orban, R., Polet, C., Semal, P., Bocherens, H., Masy, P. & García Martín, C. (2001). Apports récents sur l’anthropologie des Mésolithiques et des Néolithiques mosans. Anthropologica et Préhistorica 112, 91-105.
Turner, C. G., II, Nichol, C., & Scott, G. R. (1991). Scoring procedures for key morphological traits of the permanent dentition: The Arizona State University dental anthropology system. In M. A. Kelley & C. S. Larsen (Eds.), Advances in dental anthropology (pp. 13–31). New York: Wiley-Liss.
Vanderveken, S. (1997). Etude anthropologique des sépultures néolithiques de Maurenne et Hastière (province de Namur). MA thesis, Université Libre de Bruxelles.
Waters-Rist, A., Bazaliiskii, V. I., Goriunova, O. I., Weber, A. W. & Katzenberg, M. A. (2016). Evaluating the biological discontinuity hypothesis of Cis-Baikal Early versus Late Neolithic-Early Bronze Age populations using dental nonmetric traits. Quaternary International 405, 122-133.
Article Sidebar
Published
Jan 12, 2021
Article Details
Issue
Section
Original Research
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.