Dental Microwear Analysis Research Articles

Dental microwear texture analysis of Pliocene Suidae from Hadar and Kanapoi in the context of early hominin dietary breadth expansion

Stable carbon isotope studies suggest that early hominins may have diversified their diet as early as 3.76 Ma. Early Pliocene hominins, including Australopithecus anamensis, had diets that were dominated by C3 resources while Late Pliocene hominins, including Australopithecus afarensis—a putative descendant of A. anamensis—had diets that included both C3 and C4 resources. It has been hypothesized that the expansion of C4 grasslands in eastern Africa during the Pliocene could have prompted hominins to incorporate C4 resources in their diets. However, dental microwear analyses suggest that diet diversification did not involve changes in the mechanical properties of the foods consumed. To provide contextual and comparative information on this issue, the diet of suids from the A. anamensis site of Kanapoi and the A. afarensis site of Hadar is investigated. Using dental microwear texture analyses, it is shown that despite significant dietary overlap, there is evidence for dietary niche partitioning among suids. Based on comparisons with the diet of extant African suids, it is inferred that Nyanzachoerus pattersoni (n = 21) was a mixed feeder, Nyanzachoerus jaegeri (n = 4) and Notochoerus euilus (n = 61) were habitual grazers, and Kolpochoerus afarensis (n = 34) had a broad diet that included hard brittle foods and underground resources. The dental microwear of Ny. pattersoni and Ny. jaegeri/No. euilus do not differ significantly between Kanapoi and Hadar. Most differences are driven by K. afarensis, a suid absent at Kanapoi but present at Hadar. Food availability probably differed between Hadar and Kanapoi, and it is likely that A. afarensis did not exploit some of the foods (e.g., underground resources) consumed by suids. It is hypothesized that despite the incorporation of C4 resources in the diet, a significant dietary change towards flexible diets in the hominin lineage had yet to come.

Sex- and status-based differences in medieval food preparation and consumption: dental microwear analysis at Trino Vercellese, Italy

Food preparation is of key importance in the medieval period where the manner of preparing ingredients had major sociocultural significance. We examine sex- and status-based differences in dental occlusal microwear from a human skeletal population from medieval Trino Vercellese, Italy, to assess intrapopulation differences in food preparation. We compare microwear results with previously reported stable carbon and nitrogen isotope data to determine the extent to which these two methods for dietary reconstruction correspond. Epoxy casts of second molars from 27 males and females of high- and low-status from medieval Trino Vercellese, Italy, were studied using field emission scanning electron microscopy. Feature tally, pit percentage, pit width, and striation width are compared between subgroups. Whereas previous isotopic data identified low-status males as outliers, dental microwear analysis indicates no differences in diet between the four sex- and status-based subgroups. However, the percentage of pitting is statistically different between males and females when status groups are pooled, with males exhibiting significantly higher values (p = 0.017). When sexes are pooled, low-status individuals are found to have significantly more features compared with high-status individuals (p = 0.030). This study demonstrates the applicability of dental microwear analysis for uncovering intra-group dietary patterns in socially stratified societies.

A new lophocyonid, Izmirictis cani gen. et sp. nov. (Carnivora: Mammalia), from the lower Miocene of Turkey

Lophocyonids are one of the more enigmatic groups of Carnivora in the European Miocene fossil record. Lophocyonids are clearly distinguished from other Feliformia by their peculiar lophodont dental morphology. For this reason, the systematic relationships of the family have been controversial. Here we describe and interpret dental remains from the early Miocene of Sabuncubeli, Turkey, which we attribute to a new genus and species: Izmirictis cani. The phylogenetic analysis allows us to include Izmirictis within a monophyletic group, Lophocyonidae new rank, characterized by the molarization of the anterior premolars (P3 and p4), the lophodont adaptation of the molar dentition and the complex morphology of the incisors. The phylogenetic analysis shows a close relationship between Izmirictis and primitive hyaenids (represented herein by Protictitherium). The divergence between Lophocyonidae and Hyaenidae is estimated by biochronological data to have occurred during the early Miocene (MN2). Dental microwear analysis, although limited by poor dental enamel preservation, indicates that the pronounced lophodonty in Izmirictis cani could be connected to a herbivorous feeding habit.http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:8D75382D-6C22-41C1-A47F-BA3EAF766881

The bear necessities: A new dental microwear database for the interpretation of palaeodiet in fossil Ursidae

This study presents a new database of dental microwear features for extant bear species, which is used to interpret palaeodiet in brown bear (Ursus arctos) from the late Middle Pleistocene site of Grays Thurrock, U.K. Applying light stereomicroscopy techniques in dental microwear analysis, we highlight, for the first time, that the talonid area of the first lower molar (m1) in extant ursids is most effective in the differentiation of dietary ecospaces. Extant bear species can be separated into different parts of a dietary ecospace revealing microwear features that mirror their dietary preferences. Of particular note is the differentation of ecospaces within modern brown bear populations from different geographical regions and the potential for identifying seasonal variation in diet. The results demonstrate that the diet of thelate Middle Pleistocene brown bear from the interglacial site of Grays Thurrock was closely comparable to that of the modern U. arctos from northern Europe, the American black bear (Ursus americanus), and the sun bear (Helarctos malayanus). This suggests the dietary importance of fibrous food, as well as soft fruits and invertebrates and a small vertebrate component. This finding is in agreement with climatic conditions and habitats inferred for the MIS 9 interglacial. The creation and testing of a dental microwear database for all modern bear species provides a foundation for subsequent application to other extinct Pleistocene bear populations.

Dietary inferences from dental microwear patterns in Chalcolithic populations from the Iberian Peninsula: the case of El Portalón de Cueva Mayor (Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos, Spain) and El Alto de la Huesera (Álava, Spain)

Dietary habits are inferred through dental microwear analysis in humans from two Chalcolithic sites located on the Iberian Northern Plateau: El Portalon de Cueva Mayor and El Alto de la Huesera. The pattern of dental microwear was established on the buccal surfaces of permanent and deciduous molars, on the bottom of facet 9 on the occlusal surface of lower molars and on the incisal surfaces of deciduous incisors. Our findings suggest that during the Chalcolithic, the diet of populations from the Northern Plateau is less abrasive than that at the Mediterranean coast, due mainly to high meat consumption. The differences in diet are related to environmental factors, which are more appropriate for animal husbandry on the Northern Plateau. The consumption of meat is not equivalent in sub-adult and adult individuals from our samples located on the Northern Plateau. Younger individuals show a harder diet with less meat intake than older ones.

Reconstruction of Caprine Management and Landscape Use Through Dental Microwear Analysis: The Case of the Iron Age Site of El Turó de la Font de la Canya (Barcelona, Spain)

ABSTRACTThis paper presents the results of a pilot study using dental microwear analysis on 23 sheep and goat teeth dated to the 6th century BC from the Iron Age site of El Turó Font de la Canya (Barcelona, Spain). This study aimed to reconstruct livestock management practices and landscape use. The dental microwear pattern indicates that sheep and goats could have been grazing in the same area where vegetation was composed of shrubs, bushes and non-graminaceous plants on an eroded landscape, although additional supplies of fodder cannot be excluded. This scenario is compatible with the archaeological and palaeoenvironmental data which suggest a possibly increased territoriality, land degradation and an increase of woodland clearance during Iron Age in the North-east of the Iberian Peninsula. Furthermore, we applied two recent microwear approaches which provide more information about mortality events and the possibility of distinguishing between an intensive and extensive management. This paper demonstrates how this method can be used to better understand animal husbandry practices and landscape use in Late Prehistory.

MicroWeaR: A new R package for dental microwear analysis.

Mastication of dietary items with different mechanical properties leaves distinctive microscopic marks on the surface of tooth enamel. The inspection of such marks (dental microwear analysis) is informative about the dietary habitus in fossil as well as in modern species. Dental microwear analysis relies on the morphology, abundance, direction, and distribution of these microscopic marks. We present a new freely available software implementation, MicroWeaR, that, compared to traditional dental microwear tools, allows more rapid, observer error free, and inexpensive quantification and classification of all the microscopic marks (also including for the first time different subtypes of scars). Classification parameters and graphical rendering of the output are fully settable by the user. MicroWeaR includes functions to (a) sample the marks, (b) classify features into categories as pits or scratches and then into their respective subcategories (large pits, coarse scratches, etc.), (c) generate an output table with summary information, and (d) obtain a visual surface‐map where marks are highlighted. We provide a tutorial to reproduce the steps required to perform microwear analysis and to test tool functionalities. Then, we present two case studies to illustrate how MicroWeaR works. The first regards a Miocene great ape obtained from through environmental scanning electron microscope, and other a Pleistocene cervid acquired by a stereomicroscope.

Epipalaeolithic and Neolithic gazelle hunting in the Badia of north-east Jordan. Reconstruction of seasonal movements of herds by stable isotope and dental microwear analyses

In the north-east Jordan steppe, gazelle were of considerable economic importance to human groups during the Epipalaeolithic and Neolithic. An influential model argues that gazelle herds migrated through the region and were only seasonally available to hunters. This study tests that model, asking whether gazelle were indeed highly seasonally mobile during these time frames, or whether they could have remained more local, adapted to periodically resource-rich habitats, and thus been available to hunters throughout the year. Interpretation of animal location, diet and season, through stable isotope analyses and microwear studies of archaeological gazelle teeth from ten chronologically and spatially varied sites, suggests herds did not migrate. Rather, gazelle appear to have had relatively local year-round habitats in the steppe during the Epipalaeolithic at least, while possibly ranging further and becoming more mobile in the Neolithic.

Reflections on nutrition in biological anthropology.

Reflections on nutrition in biological anthropology.

Dietary variability of extinct tayassuids and modern white-lipped peccaries (Tayassu pecari) as inferred from dental microwear and stable isotope analysis

Prior geochemical work documents dietary shifts coincident with climate change in extinct peccaries, with taxa typically shifting between browsing and mixed-feeding. This study employs dental microwear texture analysis (DMTA) and stable carbon isotopes to interpret the diet of extinct peccaries in Florida, specifically Platygonus, Mylohyus, and Protherohyus from the late Miocene throughout the Pleistocene, to evaluate how dietary behavior has fluctuated over time. When Mylohyus and Protherohyus coexisted in the Hemphillian, Mylohyus consumed C3 food sources with harder textures, consistent with the consumption of woody browse, while Protherohyus consumed a greater proportion of C4 vegetation (likely grass). During the Blancan, both Platygonus and Mylohyus can be considered primarily C3 browsers, based on both DMTA and stable isotope data. However, during the Irvingtonian, both Mylohyus and Platygonus consumed a larger proportion of C4 vegetation than during previous North American Land Mammal Ages (NALMAs). Platygonus consumed predominantly C3 vegetation during the Rancholabrean, while Mylohyus consumed a mixture of C3 and C4 vegetation in more open environments. Independent of NALMA, Platygonus consumed predominantly tough vegetation, (e.g., tough leaves and/or grass) while Mylohyus consumed harder food items, consistent with morphological differences in their teeth. In contrast, extant Tayassu peccaries are obligate C3 feeders and show no evidence of C4 consumption. Further, Tayassu are indistinguishable in all dental microwear textural properties from both of their extinct relatives, suggesting that while extant peccaries eat primarily foods from forested environments, those foods are highly variable in textural properties. Collectively, these data suggest that extinct peccaries, Mylohyus and Platygonus, altered their diet over time and possibly in response to changing climates.

Using springbok (Antidorcas) dietary proxies to reconstruct inferred palaeovegetational changes over 2 million years in Southern Africa

The reconstruction of past vegetation and climatic conditions of the Cradle of Humankind, Gauteng Province, South Africa, has been approached using various proxies (such as micromammals, speleothems, faunal and floral presence and stable carbon isotopes). Elisabeth Vrba's seminal studies (1974; 1975) on the fossil record of this region indicated dramatic faunal turnover based on species extinction and speciation data. This turnover was thought to have been driven by increasing aridity and spreading grasslands. These reconstructions however, are continuously being refined and adapted in light of advancing techniques (such as dental microwear textural analysis) and terrestrial proxies, such as speleothems.However, more recent studies show varying proportions from wooded towards more grassland-dominated habitats, with the most common reconstruction being the heterogeneous ‘mosaic’ habitat. Here we re-evaluate the findings of a transition from woodland to grassland conditions in the fossil record from Member 4 Sterkfontein to Member 5 Sterkfontein and the deposits of Swartkrans. To approach the palaeovegetation changes through time via a different angle, we focus on the diet of the springbok (genus Antidorcas), represented throughout this temporal period from geological members dating from 2.8–0.8 Ma. We use detailed dietary methods (dental linear measurements, mesowear, microwear, and stable carbon isotope analysis) to explore past changes in diets of springbok that can be used to indicate the prevailing vegetation conditions. Our results presented here broadly agree with previous palaeoenvironmental reconstructions, in indicating increased grassland post ca 1.7 Ma, with some suggestion of more heterogeneous habitats for Swartkrans Member 2 (ca 1.65–1.07 Ma). We find that there is support for the implementation of a multi-disciplinary approach to produce more accurate and robust reconstructions of past diets and by extension, of palaeovegetation conditions, if the selected herbivore species is a mixed-feeder, like the springbok.

Was Mesopithecus a seed eating colobine? Assessment of cracking, grinding and shearing ability using dental topography

Extant colobine monkeys have been historically described as specialized folivores. However, reports on both their behavior and dental metrics tend to ascribe a more varied diet to them. In particular, several species, such as Pygathrix nemaeus and Rhinopithecus roxellana, are dedicated seasonal seed eaters. They use the lophs on their postcanine teeth to crack open the hard endocarp that protects some seeds. This raises the question of whether the bilophodont occlusal pattern of colobine monkeys first evolved as an adaptation to folivory or sclerocarpic foraging. Here, we assess the sclerocarpic foraging ability of the oldest European fossil colobine monkey, Mesopithecus. We use computed microtomograpy to investigate the three-dimensional (3D) dental topography and enamel thickness of upper second molars ascribed to the late Miocene species Mesopithecus pentelicus from Pikermi, Greece. We compare M. pentelicus to a sample of extant Old World monkeys encompassing a wide range of diets. Furthermore, we combine classic dietary categories such as folivory with alternative categories that score the ability to crack, grind and shear mechanically challenging food. The 3D dental topography of M. pentelicus predicts an ability to crack and grind hard foods such as seeds. This is consistent with previous results obtained from dental microwear analysis. However, its relatively thin enamel groups M. pentelicus with other folivorous cercopithecids. We interpret this as a morphological trade-off between the necessity to avoid tooth failure resulting from hard food consumption and the need to process a high amount of leafy material. Our study demonstrates that categories evaluating the cracking, grinding or shearing ability, traditional dietary categories, and dental topography combine well to make a powerful tool for the investigation of diet in extant and extinct primates.

Feeding Ecology in Oligocene Mylodontoid Sloths (Mammalia, Xenarthra) as Revealed by Orthodentine Microwear Analysis

Recently, dental microwear analysis has been successfully employed to xenarthran teeth. Here, we present new data on use wear features on 16 molariforms of Orophodon hapaloides and Octodontotherium grande. These taxa count among the earliest sloths and are known from the Deseadan SALMA (late Oligocene). Modern phylogenetic analyses classify Octodontotherium and Orophodon within Mylodontoidea with whom they share lobate cheek teeth with an outer layer of cementum and a thick layer of orthodentine. Similar target areas of 100μm2 were analyzed on the orthodentine surface of each tooth by stereomicroscopic microwear and by SEM microwear. Results were unlike those of extant sloths (stereomicroscopic microwear: Bradypus, Choloepus) and published data from fossil sloths (SEM microwear: Acratocnus, Megalonyx, Megatherium, Thinobadistes); thus, both approaches independently indicate a different feeding ecology for the Oligocene taxa. The unique microwear results suggest that both taxa fed on plant material with low to moderate intrinsic toughness (foliage, twigs) but also proposes intake of tougher food items (e.g., seeds). Frequent gouging of the tooth surfaces can be explained by exogenous influence on microwear, such as possible intake of abrasive grit. We suggest an unspecialized herbivorous diet for Octodontotherium and Orophodon utilizing diverse food resources of their habitat. These interpretations support the reconstruction of (1) Deseadan environments as open habitats with spreading savannas/grasslands and (2) both taxa as wide-muzzled bulk feeders at ground level.

Buccal dental microwear texture and catarrhine diets.

Two-dimensional dental microwear analyses on occlusal and nonocclusal enamel surfaces have been widely applied to reconstruct the feeding behaviors of extant primates and to infer ecological adaptations in fossil hominins. To date, analyses of dental microwear texture, using three-dimensional, Scale-Sensitive Fractal Analysis approaches has only been applied to occlusal surfaces. Here, for the first time, we apply this 3D proxy to buccal enamel surfaces of catarrhine primates of known feeding ecologies to assess the utility of nonocclusal microwear texture variables as indicators of dietary habits. Buccal microwear texture attributes were collected from high-resolution second molar casts in a sample of seven extant African catarrhine taxa with differing dietary behaviors. A white-light confocal microscope with a 100× objective lens was used to record six microwear texture variables that assess complexity, anisotropy, heterogeneity, and textural fill volume. The physical properties and variation in hardness of ingested foods is reflected by significant differences in the microwear variables on buccal enamel surfaces between species, which is in agreement with early reports using 2D microwear signatures of the same samples. Species that consume hard brittle items showed high buccal enamel complexity and low anisotropy values, while folivorous species that consume tough foods revealed high anisotropy and low complexity enamel patterns. Buccal microwear texture analysis on enamel surfaces clearly reflects diet-related variation in nonhuman primates. Our findings indicate that microwear texture attributes on nonworking enamel surfaces provide an alternative procedure for reconstructing dietary behavior when wear facets on occlusal surfaces are lacking.

Gazelle seasonal mobility in the Jordanian steppe: The use of dental isotopes and microwear as environmental markers, applied to Epipalaeolithic Kharaneh IV

The Early/Middle Epipalaeolithic aggregation site of Kharaneh IV in the east Jordan steppe is one of the largest of the period, showing repeated use, high degrees of site investment, and relatively prolonged periods of occupation. Hunters relied heavily on the single prey species, Gazella subgutturosa. This paper reports on isotopic analyses of gazelle teeth, drawn from the Kharaneh IV assemblage, to explore the seasonal and spatial distribution of gazelle in life and examine models of long-distance seasonal gazelle migrations. Dental microwear analysis is also employed to assess hunting seasons.Results from sequential isotope analyses of 11 Epipalaeolithic gazelle molars show that, with one exception, gazelle did not move seasonally from the limestone steppe onto other geologies, nor did they seasonally relocate to areas with different climate regimes. Rather, seasonal herd mobility seems to have been local, meaning animals would have been available in the vicinity of Kharaneh IV year-round. Results from 19 microwear analyses show some gazelle to have died in spring when grass graze was available, whilst others had been browsing around their time of death, indicating non-spring hunting. Microwear evidence thus suggests gazelle were hunted in more than one restricted season. The implications of these new datasets for hunter-gatherer use of the steppe, and potential hunting methods, is highlighted.

Paleoenvironment in East Java during the last 25,000 years as inferred from bovid and cervid dental wear analyses

This paper reports the results of dental mesowear and microwear analyses of bovid and cervid specimens recovered from Late Pleistocene to Middle Holocene deposits of Braholo Cave and Song Terus in Eastern Java. The aim is to infer ungulate dietary traits from dental wear signatures and gain insights regarding the paleoenvironment of the region during the last 25,000years, a period of drastic climatic fluctuations. We considered three cervid (Rusa, Axis and Muntiacus muntjak) and two bovid (Bubalus and Bos javanicus) taxa in the analyses. Results from both cave sites suggest that the Pleistocene-Holocene transition was accompanied by expansion of rainforests as evidenced by the predominance of species that had a browsing or browse-dominated mixed diet. However some of the taxa examined exhibited strong grazing signatures indicative of the continued presence of patches of grasslands up to the Mid-Holocene. Dental wear signatures of specimens from layers dating to the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) suggest a mosaic environment dominated by grasslands. In Braholo Cave, we observed discrepancies between the mesowear and microwear signatures in specimens dating to the LGM and we take this as evidence of seasonality during this period. The results of the study provide important information on the environments encountered by the hunter-gatherer communities that lived in East Java in periods of climatic change.

Tooth wear as a means to quantify intra-specific variations in diet and chewing movements.

In mammals, tooth function, and its efficiency, depends both on the mechanical properties of the food and on chewing dynamics. These aspects have rarely been studied in combination and/or at the intra-specific level. Here we applied 3D dental surface texture analysis to a sample of field voles (Microtus agrestis) trapped from Finnish Lapland at different seasons and localities to test for inter-population variations. We also explored intra-individual variation in chewing dynamics by analysing two facets on the second upper molars. Our results confirm that the two localities have similar environments and that the voles feed on the same items there. On the other hand, the texture data suggest that diets are seasonally variable, probably due to varying concentrations of abrasives. Lastly, the textures on the buccal facets are more isotropic and their direction deviates more from the mesial chewing direction than the lingual facets. We interpret these results as reflecting food, rather than chewing, movements, where food particles are more guided on the lingual side of the molars. This has implications for the application of dental microwear analysis to fossils: only homologous facets can be compared, even when the molar row seems to constitute a functional unit.

Convergent Traits in Mammals Associated with Divergent Behaviors: the Case of the Continuous Dental Replacement in Rock-Wallabies and African Mole-Rats

The study of convergences in mammals is crucial to understand the evolutionary processes underlying the origin of shared traits. A classic example is the independent evolution in the pygmy rock-wallaby, the silvery mole-rat, and manatees of continuous dental replacement to compensate for high dental wear. The origins of continuous dental replacement in mammals remain unresolved. As the functional study of a trait may permit pinpointing the adaptive nature of its independent evolution, we aimed at comparing first the morpho-functional characteristics of the masticatory apparatus between the pygmy rock-wallaby and their closest relatives, and then with some published data on the silvery mole-rat. 3D geometric morphometric and biomechanical analyses were complemented by dental microwear analyses. Our results showed that the pygmy rock-wallaby clearly departs from its relatives in having a wider skull, a shorter snout, and a dentition situated more distally. These cranial modifications, previously observed in the silvery mole-rat, are probably linked with a neotenic development. Because of higher developmental constraints on marsupial skulls, such adjustment in the pygmy rock-wallaby may have improved the force generated by adductor muscles at molars for comminution of tough and abrasive plants. In contrast, the strong attrition combined with the ingestion of dust during high activity of digging and feeding might contribute to both molar damage and high wear in the silvery mole-rat. Our results stress the importance of combining morphological, developmental, and functional data to show that different behaviors related to ecology can explain the convergent occurrence of continuous dental replacement in mammals.

A combined dietary approach using isotope and dental buccal-microwear analysis of human remains from the Neolithic, Roman and Medieval periods from the archaeological site of Tossal de les Basses (Alicante, Spain)

Stable isotope and dental-microwear analysis are methods commonly used to reconstruct dietary habits in modern and ancient human populations. However, it is rare that they are both used together in the same study, and here both methods are combined to obtain information on human dietary habits from the site of Tossal de les Basses (Alicante, Spain) through time. Middle Neolithic, Late Roman and Medieval (Islamic) individuals have been analyzed for carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios of bone collagen, as well as for buccal-dental microwear. Overall, δ13C and δ15N isotopic values show that for all periods the diet was mainly based on C3 terrestrial resources. However, the isotopic signature suggests a small, but clear amount of marine protein consumption during the Neolithic period and possibly also for a few individuals from the Medieval period. When compared to other studies from the region, it is also possible to see that the consumption of C4 resources was much more extensive during Medieval times than in previous periods. Microwear scratch density and length found for teeth from the Neolithic and Medieval periods reflect a diet in which tough foods predominated, requiring substantial pressure to chew in comparison with what was recorded for the Roman individuals. Combined with the δ15N data, the microwear signature suggests a higher input of marine/gritty resources among the Neolithic and Medieval populations compared to the Romans. Our findings also suggest that dietary patterns might be explained by cultural and technological population factors rather than habitat resource availability.

Toiling with teeth: An integrated dental analysis of sheep and cattle dentition in Iron Age and Viking–Late Norse Orkney

A key goal for archaeozoology is to define and characterise pastoral farming strategies. In the last decade, some of the most innovative approaches for addressing these questions have centred on the mammalian dentition, including inter alia sequential sampling of stable isotopes, dental microwear analysis and the study of dental pathologies. It is when these techniques are integrated and combined with more traditional approaches, such as tooth eruption and wear, however, that their full potential is realised. In this article we demonstrate how such an integrated dental analysis combining isotopes, microwear, dental development, dental pathologies, tooth eruption and wear can be used to elucidate changing pastoral practices and their impacts on the landscape from the Iron Age and Viking-Late Norse periods in the North Atlantic islands, a period of significant socio-economic and cultural change in this region. Analysis focuses on two case study sites, Mine Howe, dating to the Atlantic Middle Iron Age (MIA) and the Earl's Bu, one of the residences of the Orkney Earl's from the 10th to 13/14th centuries AD. Each of the techniques applied to the sheep/goat and cattle dentition identifies clear differences between the two sites, in diet, in culling season, herd health and stress levels, all of which point to potential differences in underlying husbandry practices. These are related to wider socio-economic developments in Orkney at these periods, specifically increasing control of pastoral resources and economic production by North Atlantic elites in the MIA and the emergence of manorial estates in Late Norse/Early Medieval Scandinavia.