Cercopithecoides williamsi, a Plio-Pleistocene primate, is believed to have been a terrestrial colobine monkey. Dental microwear analysis of C. williamsi specimens from South African cave sites was employed to test these assumptions. Analysis of the features shows that although the microwear signature of C. williamsi is similar to that of folivorous primates, there are also similarities with terrestrial papionins. Overall, the dental microwear analysis demonstrates that C. williamsi could have indeed been a folivorous, terrestrial monkey. A high amount of puncture pits also points to a substantial amount of grit in the diet. Similarities between the microwear features of C. williamsi and Cebus apella indicate that fruit or hard objects could have been a supplemental food of C. williamsi. The consumption of underground storage organs covered in grit would explain the heavy pitting of C. williamsi teeth. Being terrestrial, C. williamsi would have been in direct competition with terrestrial papionins.

This study utilizes occlusal dental microwear analysis to investigate dietary texture in a sample of Archaic period (~10,000-3,000 B.P.) and Woodland period (~3,000-950 B.P.) Native American human remains from the Carrier Mills Archaeological District (Saline County, Illinois). Molar teeth from thirty individuals were examined in a scanning electron microscope at 500x, and the number of pits and scratches were quantified. Four variables were analyzed: number of pits, number of scratches, total number of features, and the pit/scratch ratio. These four variables were used to compare differences in dietary texture between Archaic and Woodland periods, between males and females (both combined and by time period), and between those individuals who were diagnosed as having a treponemal disease and those who were not. The results indicate that there were no differences in dietary texture between the Archaic and Woodland periods. This suggests that even with the introduction of new food preparation technology (i.e. pottery) during the Woodland period, the basic texture of the food remained the same over a long period of time. In addition, no significant differences were found between diseased and non-diseased individuals at the Carrier Mills Archaeological District, suggesting that the texture of foods consumed by these two groups did not differ. Males and females, however, did show a difference in dietary texture. Females had higher values than males for all variables examined, although only number of pits and total number of features were significantly different. These results indicate that males and females had differently textured diets. I interpret this difference in the context of sex-based differences in subsistence-related activities, especially the role that females play in the acquisition and preparation of foods. When compared to previous microwear studies, these results suggest that the Carrier Mills Archaeological District differs from other Midwestern Archaic and Woodland sites due to the lack in dietary texture changes between the Archaic and Woodland periods.

East Africa is central to many aspects of human evolution and diversification. At the same time, diet is a key aspect of the ecology of any population. Therefore, one is often interested in the diets of past populations. To assess human diet in the past, stable isotope ratio and dental microwear analyses are often perceived as the only semi-quantitative and objective techniques. However, there are still many unknowns on how isotopic and microwear signals change in response to dietary variation, because few controlled studies have been carried out in modern populations. To investigate this issue, this study targeted living humans from African ethnic groups (El Molo, Turkana, Luhya, and Luo, from Kenya, and Baka, from Cameroon) that practise a wide range of traditional subsistence strategies (pastoralism, fishing, and agriculture), with the objective of building a framework in which to consider past diet in an East African context. This study analysed human hair (n = 143), nail (n = 83), and breath (n = 186) for δ$^{13}$C and δ$^{15}$N from the six different communities, and dental moulds (n = 150) from five of those communities (no moulds were collected from the Baka), and related the findings to dietary information. Dental microwear analyses had a low success rate because microwear features were obscured by the biofilm produced by mouth bacteria. Nevertheless, a visual analysis of the results suggested that the El Molo have the hardest and the toughest diet among all the groups studied, possibly through the inclusion of abrasives in the diet during food processing. In turn, the isotopic analyses revealed the ways in which agriculturalists and hunter gatherers differ from pastoralists and fishers in their isotopic values, although the variation in δ$^{13}$C and δ$^{15}$N did not distinguish between pastoralists and fishers. The results emphasise recent changes in the diet of these groups, the importance of local factors in isotope values, and the variable sensitivity of isotopes to dietary practices. In conclusion, although each technique could provide complementary data that would contribute to a more inclusive view of diet, dental microwear analyses are not easily applied to modern human groups, due to the difficulty in acquiring comparative in vivo data, and in distinguishing between patterns caused by food items, or food processing techniques.

abstract: Providing an environmental context to early hominins is as important as describing the hominin fossils themselves, because evolutionary processes are tightly linked to everchanging ecosystems that vary across space and through time. An optimal understanding of ecosystems changes is critical to formulate and test hypotheses regarding human evolution and adaptation. Fortunately, the fossil record has yielded abundant remains of mammals which can be used to explore the possible causal relationships between environmental change and mammal – including hominin –evolution. Although many studies have already been conducted on this topic, most of them are framed at large spatial and temporal scales. Instead, this dissertation focuses on the evolution and paleoecology of only one group of mammals (the Suidae) in a specific geographical area (lower Awash Valley in Ethiopia) and within a constrained time frame (3.8–2.6 Ma). Three dissertation papers address: 1) changes in suid taxonomic composition in relation to Late Pliocene faunal turnover ~2.8 Ma in the Lee-Adoyta basin, Ledi-Geraru; 2) comparisons of suid diets from Hadar (~3.45–2.95 Ma) with respect to those of Kanapoi (~4.1 Ma, West Turkana, Kenya); 3) the dietary ecology of the suids from Woranso-Mille (~3.8–3.2 Ma). Results of these papers show that 1) after ~2.8 Ma there is a replacement of suid species that is coupled with low relative abundance of suids. This is compatible with more open and/or arid environments at this time; 2) suid dietary breadth was broader in Hadar than in Kanapoi, but this is mostly driven by the dietary niche space occupied by Kolpochoerus in Hadar, a suid genus absent from Kanapoi; 3) suid diets vary both temporally and geographically within the lower Awash Valley. Kolpochoerus incorporates more C4 resources (e.g., grasses) in its diet after ~3.5 Ma and in general, suids after ~3.5 Ma in Woranso-Mille had C4-enriched diets in comparison with those from nearby Hadar and Dikika. Presumably, the changes in suid communities (relative abundance and taxonomic composition) and dietary shifts observed in suids were triggered by climatic and habitat changes that also contributed to shape the behavioural and morphological evolution of early hominins. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Anthropology 2018

Hyaenids reached their peak diversity during the Mio-Pliocene, when an array of carnivorous species emerged alongside dwindling civet-like and mongoose-like insectivorous/omnivorous taxa. Significantly, bone-cracking morphological adaptations were poorly developed in these newly-emerged species. This, their general canid-like morphology, and the absence/rarity of canids in Eurasia and Africa at the time, has led researchers to hypothesise that these carnivorous Mio-Pliocene hyaenas were ecological vicars to modern canids. To shed further light on their diets and foraging strategies, we examine and compare the dental microwear textures of Hyaenictitherium namaquensis, Ikelohyaena abronia, Chasmaporthetes australis, and Hyaenictis hendeyi from the South African Mio-Pliocene site of Langebaanweg with those of the extant feliforms Crocuta crocuta, Acinonyx jubatus, and Panthera leo (caniforms are not included because homologous wear facets are not directly comparable between the suborders). Sample sizes for individual fossil species are small, which limits confidence in assessments of variation between the extinct taxa; however, these Mio-Pliocene hyaenas exhibit surface complexity and textural fill volume values that are considerably lower than those exhibited by the living hyaena, Crocuta crocuta. Dental microwear texture analysis thus supports interpretations of craniodental evidence suggesting low bone consumption in carnivorous Mio-Pliocene hyaenas.

This research utilizes two analytical methods to examine the dental microwear of two skeletal samples from East Lokris, Greece. The samples are from the Bronze age/Early Iron age sites of Mitrou and Tragana Agia Triada. The samples were tested according to various temporal and geographic designations in an attempt to determine if any differences in dietary constituent could be discerned from their dental microwear signatures. Both traditional dental microwear analysis using a scanning electron microscope and dental microwear texture analysis employing scale sensitive fractal analysis and a Sensofar Plµ Confocal Profiler were used. The results of analysis for both methods differ in regards to their level of statistical significance but both suggest a general trend of coarsening of masticated materials during the Bronze/Iron age transition. Current evidence suggests that the changes in the dietary texture are due to changes in pottery production and are likely not due to dietary changes.

Yes / 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 centered 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 Earls’ 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. / AHRC PhD studentships; British Academy Mid-Career Fellowship (2014-5)

Le régime alimentaire est un élément clé de l’écologie des espèces et dépend à la fois des besoins nutritionnels des individus et des ressources alimentaires disponibles. Ainsi, les stratégies alimentaires peuvent varier en fonction de l’âge, du sexe ou de l’état physiologique des individus, mais également de paramètres environnementaux et, en particulier, de la saisonnalité. Reconstruire le régime alimentaire d’espèces cryptiques ou difficiles à observer en milieu naturel nécessite l’emploi de marqueurs capables de détecter les variations du régime alimentaire sur le court terme. L’analyse des patrons de micro-usures dentaires et des ratios d’isotopes stables du carbone et de l’azote constitue une approche pertinente pour distinguer le régime alimentaire entre différentes espèces ou entre populations. Dans le cadre de cette thèse, nous avons évalué le pouvoir prédictif de ces deux types de marqueurs sur les variations saisonnières et interindividuelles du régime alimentaire dans une population naturelle de mandrills (Mandrillus sphinx) sur laquelle des données comportementales étaient disponibles. Conformément aux comportements alimentaires observés, les patrons de micro-usures dentaires et les signatures isotopiques varient en fonction de la saison, de l’âge et du sexe des individus. L’ensemble de nos résultats nous indique que la diversité importante d’aliments consommés à faible fréquence par les mandrills ne peut être détectée par les marqueurs analysés qui semblent être, en revanche, pertinents pour identifier des changements significatifs de consommation d’aliments majoritaires tels que les fruits et les feuilles. Enfin, les signatures isotopiques varient en fonction du cycle reproducteur des femelles et de leur rang de dominance, nous indiquant que l’utilisation de tels marqueurs peut permettre la mise en évidence d’aspects de la physiologie des individus non reportés par des observations comportementales. Les résultats présentés dans cette thèse apportent des données de référence essentielles pour la reconstruction du régime alimentaire d’espèces éteintes partageant des traits communs avec le mandrill, telles que des primates généralistes de forêts tropicales. / Diet is a critical factor of species’ ecology and depends on both individuals’ nutritional needs and availability of their food resources. As such, feeding strategies may vary with age, sex or physiological condition of the individuals but also depend on environmental factors and, in particular, seasonality. In cryptic species and those that are difficult to observe in their natural habitat, diet reconstruction requires the use of proxies with the ability to detect dietary variations over the short term. Analyses of dental microwear patterns along with carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes constitute a relevant approach to discriminate between diets of different species or populations. In the framework of this thesis, we assessed the predictive power of these two proxies on seasonal and inter-individual variations of diet in a natural population of mandrills (Mandrillus sphinx) for which behavioural data was available. According to the feeding behaviours observed, dental microwear patterns and isotopic signatures vary depending on the season as well as individual’s age and sex. Taken together our results indicate that the large diversity of rarely consumed food items cannot be detected by the proxies analysed, which are however, relevant to identify significant changes in the consumption of major foods such as fruits and leaves. Finally, isotopic signatures vary across females’ reproductive statuses and dominance ranks, indicating that the use of those proxies may allow the highlighting of some aspects of individuals’ physiology not detected by behavioural observations. The results presented in this thesis provide a baseline data essential for dietary reconstruction of extinct species sharing similar traits with mandrills, such as generalist primates from tropical forests.

Dental microwear texture (DMT) analysis is used to differentiate abrasive dental wear patterns in many species fed different diets. Because DMT parameters all describe the same surface, they are expected to correlate with each other distinctively. Here, we explore the data range of, and correlations between, DMT parameters to increase the understanding of how this group of proxies records wear within and across species. The analysis was based on subsets of previously published DMT analyses in guinea pigs, sheep, and rabbits fed either a natural whole plant diet (lucerne, grass, bamboo) or pelleted diets with or without added quartz abrasives (guinea pigs and rabbits: up to 45 days, sheep: 17 months). The normalized DMT parameter range (P4: 0.69 0.25; M2: 0.83 0.16) and correlation coefficients (P4: 0.50 0.31; M2: 0.63 0.31) increased along the tooth row in guinea pigs, suggesting that strong correlations may be partially explained by data range. A comparison between sheep and guinea pigs revealed a higher DMT data range in sheep (0.93 0.16; guinea pigs: 0.47 0.29), but this did not translate into more substantial correlation coefficients (sheep: 0.35 0.28; guinea pigs: 0.55 0.32). Adding rabbits to an interspecies comparison of low abrasive dental wear (pelleted lucerne diet), the softer enamel of the hypselodont species showed a smaller data range for DMT parameters (guinea pigs 0.49 0.32, rabbit 0.19 0.18, sheep 0.78 0.22) but again slightly higher correlations coefficients compared to the hypsodont teeth (guinea pigs 0.55 0.31, rabbits 0.56 0.30, sheep 0.42 0.27). The findings suggest that the softer enamel of fast-replaced ever-growing hypselodont cheek teeth shows a greater inherent wear trace consistency, whereas the harder enamel of permanent and non-replaced enamel of hypsodont ruminant teeth records less coherent wear patterns. Because consistent diets were used across taxa, this effect cannot be ascribed to the random overwriting of individual wear traces on the more durable hypsodont teeth. This matches literature reports on reduced DMT pattern consistency on harder materials; possibly, individual wear events become more random in nature on harder material. Given the species-specific differences in enamel characteristics, the findings suggest a certain species-specificity of DMT patterns.

Ce travail a pour objectif de mieux comprendre l’économie animale dans le monde égéen néolithique. Il s’appuie d’une part sur l’étude archéozoologique de trois sites localisés dans le Péloponnèse et en Macédoine : Kouphovouno, Pigi Athinas et Kryoneri. D’autre part, des analyses de micro-usures ont été réalisées sur les dents d’animaux des assemblages ostéologiques de Kouphovouno, Lerne, Kitsos, Pigi Athinas, Kryoneri et Sitagroi afin de restituer les conditions d’élevage et l’environnement passé. Ces données ont ensuite été intégrées dans une perspective géographique et chronologique plus large, ce qui nous a permis de révéler une adaptation optimale de l’homme au milieu et aux contraintes socio-économiques tant dans les choix d’élevage que dans l’exploitation de la faune elle-même / The objective of this work is to increase our knowledge of animal economy during the Neolithic in the Aegean. This study is uses archaeozoological studies of three settlements located in Peloponnese (Kouphovouno) and Macedonia (Pigi Athinas and Kryoneri) as well as, dental microwear on the animal teeth from six assemblages, Kouphovouno, Lerna, Kitsos, Pigi Athinas, Kryoneri and Sitagroi in order to reconstruct conditions of breeding and the paleoenvironment. These data are then placed in the context of a wider geographical and chronological perspective, what allows us to reveal an optimal adaptation of man to his environment and to socio-economic constraints both in choices of breeding and in exploitation of the fauna itself.