Chapter 7 - Dental microwear texture analysis in bioarchaeology

Abstract

Dental microwear texture analysis (DMTA) is a means for interpreting microscopic features that form on teeth as a result of mastication. Although initially developed for reconstructing diets in non-human primates and fossil hominins, its efficacy has been demonstrated in humans from archaeological context. It uses confocal profilometry to reconstruct dental surfaces at a magnification of 100X. The profilometry data are analyzed using scale-sensitive fractal analysis software, which describes surface characteristics such as surface complexity (i.e., the uneveness or coarseness of the surface), anisotropy (feature direction similarity), textural fill volume (the amount of surface removed by micro-features), scale of maximum complexity, and heterogeneity (the degree to which surface complexity varies by location). Examples of DMTA’s contributions to bioarchaeology described herein via two case studies include marking the dietary transition between the precontact Archaic and Woodland periods of the eastern US and the relationship between meat eating and environmental abrasives. In the end, DMTA elucidates tooth usage and serves as a valuable means of describing dietary characteristics in people from archaeological contexts.