Dental anthropological report: Exploring plant-based treatments through the analysis of dental calculus and sediment of dental caries in a woman from the Late Preceramic period, Peru

Abstract

Reconstructing plant-based healing treatments of past societies from a dental anthropological perspective is still challenging due to a wide range of plant species, many with both medicinal and nutritional properties, and limitations on plant-taxa identification. Starch grains and phytoliths retrieved in samples from dental calculus and sediment contained in the cavity of dental caries were examined to investigate the supply of a plant-based treatment in an individual buried in the Late Preceramic site of Huaca El Paraíso (2100–1500 BCE), whose osteological analysis reported the absence of any pathological condition at a bone tissue level. A variety of starch grains such as pumpkins, manioc, maize, and beans had an important role in the diet of the individual. The starch grains were embedded in their dental calculus, all of which, except for manioc, showed signs of cooking damage. Considering the context and characteristics of the crops, the nutritional properties of maize, pumpkins and beans are evident. However, parallel medicinal properties of manioc and maize could not be entirely denied. Phytoliths morphologically ascribed to the Asteraceae plant family, which suggest the consumption of medicinal plants of Andean vernacular use, were retrieved in the sediment of dental caries. Our results prove that the analysis of sediment obtained from dental caries is as valuable in tracing medicinal plant-based treatments as dental calculus in archaeological populations. There are still several limitations to approach this topic in dental anthropology, which are discussed in this report. The performance of both analyses -dental calculus and sediment of dental caries, is highly recommended.