Dental Palaeopathological Analysis of the Eneolithic-Early Iron Age Populations from the Minusinsk Basin, Southern Siberia: Palaeodietary Implications

Dental Palaeopathological Analysis of the Eneolithic-Early Iron Age Populations from the Minusinsk Basin, Southern Siberia: Palaeodietary Implications

S.V. Svyatko.

Here we present the attempt to reconstruct the dietary habits of the fi ve major cultural horizons in Southern Siberia (Afanasyevo, Okunev, Andronovo, Karasuk and Tagar cultures, Nind = 214) over a time period spanning three millennia (25th–1st centuries BC) through the assessment of the dental palaeopathology of the people. The data has been compared with the results of earlier stable isotope analysis. The results indicate that (a) the major shifts happened in the dental condition of the Karasuk and Tagar populations, and these only partly correspond with the isotopic data; (b) the inverse relation between frequency of calculus and caries through the populations is possibly related to the consumption of less animal protein and the greater reliance on cereals by the Tagar and Karasuk people; (c) the frequency of metabolic stress, associated with dental enamel hypoplasia, gradually deteriorated from the Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age, which is possibly related to millet adoption in the Minusinsk Basin in the 14th century BC; (d) in all cases, the oral health of individuals deteriorated with age; and (e) in most cases males had higher percentages of various diseases, which does not correlate with the associated isotopic data.

Keywords: Dental palaepathology analysis, Bronze Age, Early Iron Age, Minusinsk Basin, diet.