Dietary difference and microwear on the teeth of late stone age and early modern people from western Japan.

A small sample of human teeth from western Japan was examined under a scanning electron microscope. All were from sites of two different ages; a Late Stone Age site dating from approximately 4,000 B.P., and an Early Modern site dating from 150-200 B.P. SEM analyses reveal that the scratches on the teeth from the Late Stone Age site tend to be larger and more frequent than those on the teeth from the Early Modern site. These microwear difference may be related to dietary difference between two populations.