Earliest evidence for caries and exploitation of starchy plant foods in Pleistocene hunter-gatherers from Morocco

Author

Louise T. Humphrey
Isabelle De Groote
Jacob Morales
Nick Barton
Simon Collcutt
Christopher Bronk Ramsey
Abdeljalil Bouzouggar

Files

Publication Date

1-21-2014

Publication Title

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Volume Number

111

Issue Number

3

Abstract

Significance We present early evidence linking a high prevalence of caries to a reliance on highly cariogenic wild plant foods in Pleistocene hunter-gatherers from North Africa. This evidence predates other high caries populations and the first signs of food production by several thousand years. We infer that increased reliance on wild plants rich in fermentable carbohydrates caused an early shift toward a disease-associated oral microbiota. Systematic harvesting and processing of wild food resources supported a more sedentary lifestyle during the Iberomaurusian than previously recognized. This research challenges commonly held assumptions that high rates of caries are indicative of agricultural societies.

Document Type

Article

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1318176111

Language

English

Recommended Citation

Humphrey, Louise T.; De Groote, Isabelle; Morales, Jacob; Barton, Nick; Collcutt, Simon; Bronk Ramsey, Christopher; and Bouzouggar, Abdeljalil, "Earliest evidence for caries and exploitation of starchy plant foods in Pleistocene hunter-gatherers from Morocco" (2014). KIP Articles. 10228.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/kip_articles/10228