Enamel hypoplasia in ancestral Puebloan populations from southwestern Colorado: I. Permanent Dentition.

Abstract

Dental enamel hypoplasias are used to examine metabolic disruption experienced during early childhood by ancestral Puebloan (Anasazi) inhabitants of southwestern Colorado. The hypoplasia sample consists of the permanent anterior dentition from 147 individuals from Montezuma County and Mesa Verde National Park. Using the individual as the basis of analysis, the study compares different time periods of occupation of the region with respect to prevalence and timing of hypoplasia occurrence. The frequency of enamel hypoplasia in the combined regional sample is high, affecting 90% of the individuals and 66% of the anterior teeth. The earliest onset of hypoplasia in individuals occurs most commonly at 2.5-3.0 years, and the peak age of enamel disruption in 3.0-3.5 years. There are no significant differences in hypoplasia frequency or timing between males and females or between adults and subadults. The level of childhood stress appears to have increased significantly with time from the Basketmaker III to the Pueblo I and Pueblo II periods, then decreased slightly during the Pueblo III. The differences between the Pueblo I, II, and III periods are not significant. The Pueblo II sample from Yellow Jacket Canyon sites 5MT1 and 5MT3 and the Dolores Pueblo I sample show the highest levels of childhood stress in comparison to other Puebloan populations inhabiting this region prior to A.D.