Krueger Kristin L, Ungar Peter S, Guatelli-Steinberg Debbie, Hublin Jean-Jacques, Pérez-Pérez Alejandro, Trinkaus Erik, Willman John C
Department of Anthropology, Loyola University Chicago, 1032 W. Sheridan Rd, Chicago, IL 60660, USA.
Department of Anthropology, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701, USA.
J Hum Evol. 2017 Apr;105:13-23. doi: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2017.01.004.
The causes of Neandertal anterior tooth wear patterns, including labial rounding, labial scratches, and differential anterior-posterior wear, have been debated for decades. The most common explanation is the "stuff-and-cut" hypothesis, which describes Neandertals clamping down on a piece of meat and slicing a portion close to their lips. "Stuff-and-cut" has been accepted as a general aspect of Neandertal behavior without fully assessing its variability. This study analyzes anterior dental microwear textures across habitats, locations, and time intervals to discern possible variation in Neandertal anterior tooth-use behavior. Forty-five Neandertals from 24 sites were analyzed, represented by high-resolution replicas of permanent anterior teeth. The labial surface was scanned for antemortem microwear using a white-light confocal profiler. The resultant 3D-point clouds, representing 204 × 276 μm for each specimen, were uploaded into SSFA software packages for texture characterization. Statistical analyses, including MANOVAs, ANOVAs, and pairwise comparisons, were completed on ranked microwear data. Neandertal descriptive statistics were also compared to 10 bioarchaeological samples of known or inferred dietary and behavioral regimes. The Neandertal sample varied significantly by habitat, suggesting this factor was a principal driving force for differences in Neandertal anterior tooth-use behaviors. The Neandertals from open habitats showed significantly lower anisotropy and higher textural fill volume than those inhabiting more closed, forested environments. The texture signature from the open-habitat Neandertals was most similar to that of the Ipiutak and Nunavut, who used their anterior teeth for intense clamping and grasping behaviors related to hide preparation. Those in more closed habitats were most similar to the Arikara, who did not participate in non-dietary behaviors. These Neandertal individuals had a broad range of texture values consistent with non-dietary and dietary behaviors, suggesting they varied more in anterior tooth-use behaviors and exploited a wider variety of plant and animal resources than did those from open habitats.
尼安德特人上前牙磨损模式的成因，包括唇面圆润、唇面划痕以及前后磨损差异，数十年来一直存在争议。最常见的解释是“塞咬切割”假说，该假说描述了尼安德特人咬住一块肉并在靠近嘴唇的部位切片。“塞咬切割”已被视为尼安德特人行为的一个普遍特征，但并未充分评估其变异性。本研究分析了不同栖息地、地点和时间间隔的上前牙微观磨损纹理，以辨别尼安德特人上前牙使用行为可能存在的差异。对来自24个地点的45名尼安德特人进行了分析，以恒牙上前牙的高分辨率复制品为代表。使用白光共聚焦轮廓仪扫描唇面的生前微观磨损情况。每个标本生成的代表204×276μm的三维点云被上传到SSFA软件包中进行纹理特征分析。对排序后的微观磨损数据进行了包括多变量方差分析、方差分析和成对比较在内的统计分析。还将尼安德特人的描述性统计数据与10个已知或推断饮食及行为模式的生物考古样本进行了比较。尼安德特人样本因栖息地不同而有显著差异，这表明该因素是尼安德特人上前牙使用行为差异的主要驱动力。来自开阔栖息地的尼安德特人显示出的各向异性明显低于居住在更封闭森林环境中的尼安德特人，但纹理填充量更高。开阔栖息地尼安德特人的纹理特征与伊皮尤塔克人和努纳武特人最为相似，他们用上前牙进行与处理兽皮相关的强烈夹紧和抓握行为。生活在更封闭栖息地的尼安德特人与阿里卡拉人最为相似，阿里卡拉人不参与非饮食行为。这些尼安德特个体的纹理值范围广泛，与非饮食和饮食行为一致，这表明他们在上前牙使用行为上的差异更大，并且比来自开阔栖息地的尼安德特人利用了更多种类的动植物资源。
