Tooth cusp radius of curvature (RoC) has been hypothesized to play an important role in food item breakdown, but has remained largely unstudied due to difficulties in measuring and modeling RoC in multicusped teeth. We tested these hypotheses using a parametric model of a four cusped, maxillary, bunodont molar in conjunction with finite element analysis. When our data failed to support existing hypotheses, we put forth and tested the Complex Cusp Hypothesis which states that, during brittle food items breakdown, an optimally shaped molar would be maximizing stresses in the food item while minimizing stresses in the enamel. After gaining support for this hypothesis, we tested the effects of relative food item size on optimal molar morphology and found that the optimal set of RoCs changed as relative food item size changed. However, all optimal morphologies were similar, having one dull cusp that produced high stresses in the food item and three cusps that acted to stabilize the food item. We then set out to measure tooth cusp RoC in several species of extant apes to determine if any of the predicted optimal morphologies existed in nature and whether tooth cusp RoC was correlated with diet. While the optimal morphologies were not found in apes, we did find that tooth cusp RoC was correlated with diet and folivores had duller cusps while frugivores had sharper cusps. We hypothesize that, because of wear patterns, tooth cusp RoC is not providing a mechanical advantage during food item breakdown but is instead causing the tooth to wear in a beneficial fashion. Next, we investigate two possible relationships between tooth cusp RoC and enamel thickness, as enamel thickness plays a significant role in the way a tooth wears, using CT scans from hundreds of unworn cusps. There was no relationship between the two variables, indicating that selection may be acting on both variables independently to create an optimally shaped tooth. Finally, we put forth a framework for testing the functional optimality in teeth that takes into account tooth strength, food item breakdown efficiency, and trapability (the ability to trap and stabilize a food item).

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À partir de la fin du Pléistocène, une réduction de la taille des dents humaines et une simplification morphologique ont été observées et débattues en lien avec des changements culturels et environnementaux. Suite à de nouvelles découvertes et à la révision des contextes archéologiques de certains gisements, une réévaluation de la nature des variations de plus de 1900 couronnes dentaires est proposée pour 176 individus de la fin du Paléolithique, du Mésolithique et du début du Néolithique provenant du Bassin aquitain et de ses marges. Particulièrement, les variations de la structure interne (épaisseur de l’émail, proportions des tissus dentaires, morphologie de la jonction émail-dentine) ont été évaluées de manière non invasive grâce aux méthodes d’imagerie 3D (microtomographie) et de morphométrie géométrique afin de caractériser et d’interpréter l’évolution des couronnes dentaires selon une approche intégrée. Les résultats des analyses morphométriques montrent une discontinuité entre les populations de la fin du Pléistocène et celles du début de l’Holocène. Une réduction des dimensions externes, des épaisseurs de l’émail et des proportions des tissus est mesurée entre la fin du Paléolithique et le Mésolithique, alors que des différences majeures dans les types d’usure et la distribution de l’émail sont observées entre le Mésolithique et le Néolithique. Ces données suggèrent que les modifications induites par les changements environnementaux de l’Holocène ont eu un impact plus important sur la réduction dentaire dans les populations humaines et que les changements culturels néolithiques ont surtout affecté la distribution de l’émail. Enfin, une corrélation entre le type d’usure occlusale et la distribution de l’épaisseur de l’émail a été mise en évidence et associée à des changements de régime alimentaire. En particulier, l’épaisseur de l’émail peut évoluer rapidement comme une réponse sélective aux changements fonctionnels dans la biomécanique de la mastication. / Since the Late Pleistocene, a reduction in size and a morphological simplification of human teeth have been observed and arguably linked to cultural and environmental changes. Following new discoveries along with the revision of key archaeological contexts, a re-assessment of the nature of crown variations on more than 1900 teeth is proposed for 176 Late Paleolithic, Mesolithic and Early Neolithic individuals from the Aquitaine Basin and its margins. In particular, a non-invasive assessment of internal tooth structure variability (enamel thickness, dental tissue proportions, enamel-dentine junction morphology) has been performed using 3D imaging methods (microtomography) and geometric morphometrics in order to characterize and interpret dental evolution from a whole crown perspective. Results from the morphometric analyses show a discontinuity between Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene populations. External dimensions, enamel thicknesses and tissue proportions are reduced in Mesolithic individuals compared to those of the Late Paleolithic, while major differences are observed in occlusal wear patterns and enamel distribution between Mesolithic and Early Neolithic samples. These data suggest that environmentally-driven modifications during the Early Holocene had a major impact on dental reduction in human populations and that Neolithic cultural changes had mostly affected enamel distribution. Finally, a correlation between occlusal wear pattern and enamel thickness distribution is observed and associated with dietary changes. In particular, enamel thickness may have rapidly evolved as a selective response to functional changes in masticatory biomechanics.