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.

Les micro-usures dentaires sont un outil permettant la reconstitution des régimes alimentaires de nombreuses espèces, notamment les herbivores. L'efficacité de cette méthode a été prouvée dans le cas d'espèces sauvages, mais peu d'études ont été effectuées sur des populations domestiques. L'interprétation des résultats repose sur des référentiels qui n'existent pas en contexte domestique, où l'alimentation des troupeaux est influencée par l'éleveur. La création de ce référentiel est nécessaire pour interpréter les résultats d'espèces domestiques, et notamment en archéologie pour étudier les modes de gestion des troupeaux d'espèces herbivores de la triade domestique (bovin, ovin et caprin). Sa création est l'objectif de cette étude, avant son application à des ensembles archéologiques de trois sites du sud de la France, Lattara, le Castellas et les Terriers. Le référentiel a mis en évidence une influence climatique forte à l'échelle du continent européen, tandis qu'à l'échelle du site des facteurs anthropiques ou saisonniers sont observés. L'étude des restes des sites archéologiques montre des modes d'élevage extensifs, avec des zones d'alimentation distinctes entre les troupeaux de caprinés et de bovins. Une évolution dans l'alimentation des bovins s'observe au troisième siècle avant notre ère à Lattara uniquement, liée à une probable réorganisation économique et donc agropastorale, en relation avec une forte augmentation démographique. Un élevage à deux échelles, familiale et tournée vers le commerce est envisagé à partir de cette période. Enfin certains assemblages semblent indiquer des abattages sur des intervalles temporels réduits. / Dental micro-wear is a tool for the reconstruction of diets of many species, including herbivores. The effectiveness of this method has been proven for many wild species, but few studies have been conducted on domestic populations. Interpretation of results for wild species is based on database that do not exist in domestic context, where feeding of herds is influenced by the herder. Creation of this database is necessary to interpret results of domestic species, especially in archaeology to study the management of herds of herbivorous species of the domestic triad (cattle, sheep and goat). Its creation is the main object of this study, before its application to teeth remains of three archaeological sites from southern France, Lattara, le Castellas and les Terriers. The database has highlighted a strong climatic influence at the European scale, while at the level of the site other factors including anthropogenic choices or seasonality are observed. The study of archaeological samples from the sites revealed extensive management with feeding areas separated from the herds of cattle and caprine. An evolution in alimentation of cattle is seen in the third century BCE in Lattara only, probably related to an economic reorganization and so agropastoral, in connection with a strong demographic growth. A two-scales breeding, family and trade oriented is thought for this period. Finally, some data sets suggest slaughters in reduced temporal intervals.

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

No description available.

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 paper presents the first analysis of dental microwear textures of carnivorans. Carnassial microwear is examined for three large carnivorans, the cheetah Acinonyx jubatus, African lion Panthera leo and spotted hyaena Crocuta crocuta using dental microwear texture analysis, which combines confocal microscopy with the study of scale-sensitive fractal geometry. Results indicate significant differences in the microscopic wear textures of these carnivores consistent with dissimilarities in their reported feeding behaviours. Acinonyx jubatus carnassial shearing facets are characterized by low surface texture complexity and high anisotropy, while P. leo and C. crocuta evince less wear texture anisotropy and more complexity. Panthera leo and C. crocuta have more heavily pitted surfaces, a wider size range of wear features and scratches that vary in their orientations relative to the long axis of the carnassial blade. Further, C. crocuta is most variable in overall surface complexity and also has the highest average complexity values. These results are consistent with differences in bone consumption rates among the three species, wherein cheetahs typically avoid bone, lions triturate it on occasion and spotted hyaenas comminute it more often. Incidences of bone consumption in carnivores reflect degree and/or type of carcass utilization and can be used as a general guide for niche partitioning. Thus, the application of microwear analyses to carnivores can be used to interpret competition and niche position within a guild of fossil carnivores across space and through time.

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.

It has been hypothesized that dietary differences in bone consumption exist between the extinct Pleistocene dire wolf (Canis dirus) and the modern gray wolf (C. lupus). Here dental microwear texture analysis of the m2 is used to test the hypothesized dietary behavior of C. dirus. If the m2 does distinguish dietary tendencies and dire wolves were heavy bone consumers, then the microwear signals of C. dirus should be similar to extant duraphageous canids. Microwear texture analysis of C. dirus was compared with that of C. lupus, coyote (C. latrans), and African wild dog (Lycaon pictus) to assess the degrees of bone consumption. An overall lack in statistically significant variables suggests little difference between the dietary tendencies between C. dirus and C. lupus. The dire wolf did not closely align with the duraphageous L. pictus, which calls into question the hypothesis of heavy carcass utilization during the Pleistocene.

No description available.