“From the mouth of a child”: dental attributes and health status during childhood in Mesolithic India

Abstract

A complete deciduous dentition was excavated from the Mesolithic site of Damdama (8800– 8600 BC) in the Gangetic Plain of north India. The site yielded remains of 47 individuals, including one child specimen 3.0–3.5 years of age, in association with an aceramic, microlithic technology and a seminomadic foraging pattern. Because sub-adult dental remains from Mesolithic contexts are very rare in South Asia, this specimen yields critical insight into deciduous dental attributes, including: (i) tooth crown size and temporal trends in dental reduction; (ii) non-metric dental morphology and biological affinity; and (iii) dental pathology, physiological stress, and diet. Standardized methods were employed in each component of the analysis, and most comparative samples were analyzed by the author, reducing the potential for inter-observer variance in data collection.