Abstract
Dental calculus analysis can be a valuable source of archaeological knowledge, since it preserves not only microbial and host biomolecules but also dietary and environmental debris, as well as metabolic products likely originating from dietary and craft activities. Here we described GC-MS analysis of a set of historic dental calculus samples from the front teeth of the mandibles of seven individuals found in 17th- and 18th-century graves in the city of Rzeszow, located in South-eastern Poland. We have found that only saturated fatty acids, which are characteristic for fats of animal origin, were present in the tested samples. Our preliminary results indicate that the diet of modern-period inhabitants of Rzeszow was rich in animal products, such as meat and dairy products.
Highlights
Subcarpathian Region (Poland).Dental plaque is an example of biofilm, a very common way for micro-organisms to exist in many environments
We present gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis of a set of historic dental calculus samples from the front teeth of the mandibles of seven individuals found in graves discovered in 2017 in the city of Rzeszow
We identified a total of four major fractions of putative dietary fatty acids and/or their derivatives in the archaeological samples (Table 1)
Summary
Microbes metabolize carbohydrates to form carboxylic acids such as lactic, acetic, and propionic acids. These acids have the ability to demineralize the hard tissues of the tooth, resulting in tooth decay. Dental calculus (a form of hardened dental plaque) analysis can be a valuable source of archaeological knowledge, because a mineralized oral plaque biofilm preserves biomolecules such as DNA and protein in the archaeological record over long periods of time [1,5,6,7,8,9]. The samples of ancient dental calculus allow deep-time genetic and non-genetic molecular anthropology approaches to studying changes in human behavior based on evolution of the oral biofilm and disease processes, and co-evolution of Molecules 2021, 26, 2951. We present gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis of a set of historic dental calculus samples from the front teeth of the mandibles of seven individuals found in graves discovered in 2017 in the city of Rzeszow
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