Enamel Hypoplasias in Permanent Teeth from Yellow Jacket Sites 5MT-1 and 5MT-3, Southwestern Colorado

Abstract

Childhood stress is examined in a prehistoric population from the American Southwest, using dental enamel hypoplasias as indicators of nutrition and disease status. The hypoplasia sample consists of permanent anterior teeth from 43 individuals excavated from habitation sites 5MT-1 and 5MT-3 at Yellow Jacket, southwestern Colorado. Although most defects are mild, the prevalence of hypoplasias in the sample is high, involving 97.7 percent of the individuals and 71.7 percent of the teeth. Upper central incisors from the Pueblo II period at Yellow Jacket (A.D. 900 to 1100) have significantly higher hypoplasia frequencies (P < 0.05) than those from the Pueblo III period (A.D. 1100 to about 1250). The increased frequency of hypoplasias during the Pueblo II period appears to be associated with climatic changes that may have resulted in unreliable crop production, extended periods of food shortage, and widespread chronic nutritional stress.