Science and Technology in Archaeology and Culture Research Center, The Cyprus Institute, 2121 Aglantzia, Nicosia, Cyprus.
Int J Paleopathol. 2024 Mar;44:10-19. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpp.2023.11.002. Epub 2023 Nov 30.
This paper explores dental diseases and wear as a proxy for dietary patterns in Hellenistic-early Roman Menainon.
This study includes 166 individuals (4th-1st c. BCE).
Carious lesions, dental calculus, antemortem tooth loss, and dental wear were recorded to explore male-female and adult-juvenile differences, and to position Menainon in the broader Hellenistic/early Roman world through comparisons with published data from other sites.
Males and females showed similar rates of dental diseases. Dental wear, in contrast, was systematically greater in males. Caries rates were high in both adults and juveniles, but adults showed more calculus. The population from Menainon had higher frequencies for calculus and carious lesions compared to contemporary Italian and Greek assemblages, and a similar frequency for antemortem tooth loss.
Some sex-related differences in the dietary patterns of the Menainon population were visible but small. The diet of adults and juveniles must have been similar in terms of carbohydrate consumption but different with regard to protein consumption. The high frequency of carious lesions and calculus compared to other Greco-Roman sites suggests that this population must have had good access to dietary resources (protein and carbohydrates).
This paper provides insights on gender (sex-related) and age divisions in the Hellenistic/early Roman society through the exploration of food consumption in a Sicilian assemblage.
Dividing the assemblage by sex and age group reduced considerably the sample size.
Stable isotopes and dental microwear analyses should be used to investigate dietary patterns further.
本文探讨了牙病和磨损作为希腊-罗马早期 Menainon 人群饮食模式的替代指标。
本研究包括 166 个人（公元前 4 世纪-公元 1 世纪）。
记录龋齿、牙石、生前牙缺失和牙齿磨损情况，以探讨男女和成年-青少年差异，并通过与其他已发表数据的比较，将 Menainon 置于更广泛的希腊-罗马世界背景下。
男性和女性的牙病发生率相似。相比之下，男性的牙齿磨损程度更高。龋齿在成年和青少年中都很常见，但成年人的牙石更多。与同时代的意大利和希腊人群相比，Menainon 人群的牙石和龋齿发生率更高，而生前牙缺失的频率相似。
Menainon 人群的饮食模式存在一些与性别相关的差异，但很小。成年人和青少年的饮食在碳水化合物摄入方面可能相似，但在蛋白质摄入方面有所不同。与其他希腊-罗马遗址相比，龋齿和牙石的高频率表明，该人群必须能够很好地获得饮食资源（蛋白质和碳水化合物）。
本文通过探讨西西里人群的食物消费情况，为希腊-罗马社会的性别（与性别相关）和年龄差异提供了新的认识。
将人群按性别和年龄组划分后，样本量大大减少。
应使用稳定同位素和牙齿微观磨损分析进一步研究饮食模式。
