Not fast, slow occlusal wear in Jomon hunter-gatherers

Abstract

Dental wear refers to the gradual loss of dental hard tissues, and its patterns are greatly af‍fected by dietary habits. This study examined dental wear in the Jomon people, prehistoric hunter-gatherers of the Japanese archipelago, to determine whether molar wear rate was relatively fast or slow compared with that of other hunter-gatherer populations with different dietary habits. To evaluate the rate of dental wear, we used average score differences between adjacent molars. Considering that this parameter is independent of age, we compared the Jomon wear rate value with those of the other hunter-gatherers and pastoralist populations available in the literature. Results indicated that the Jomon people had a significantly lower rate of wear compared to populations in arid regions with a higher reliance on abrasive plant-based diets. Furthermore, the Jomon wear rate was comparable to or lower than that of populations in cold climate with less dependency on plant foods. We suggest that the low rate of wear seen in the Jomon people stems from the use of pottery, accompanied by an increased reliance on carbohydrates, possibly associated with changes in cooking methods.