Poster De Conférence Année : 2019

Human upper incisors from the Gravettian site of Fournol (Soturac, Lot, France) show high biological variation in Upper Paleolithic human populations

Anne Viero
  • Fonction : Auteur
Mathieu Rué

Résumé

The Upper Palaeolithic Gravettian period (around 29-21,000 years ago) is characterised by a cultural homogeneity in most of continental Europe. Whereas in the past, these populations were known only through individual assessments of skeletal material from a small number of sites with relatively complete, articulated individuals, the current Gravett’os project aims at assessing the morphological variability of these Upper Palaeolithic populations as a whole, including isolated and fragmented remains. Here we report on a newly discovered sample of Gravettian remains from Fournol (Soturac, France). Clandestine excavations were carried out at the site between 2000 and 2005. In 2012, at least part of the illegally excavated material was seized by the Gendarmerie and acquired by the Musée National de Préhistoire. Since 2015, excavations carried out at the site yielded numerous remains attributed to the Gravettian. At this point in our study, a total of 188 very fragmented skeletal human remains were identified of which 63 were isolated teeth. We matched these isolated dental remains based on developmental age, occlusal wear, comparisons of size and shape (externally and internally) as well as the occurrence of hypoplastic defects. Here, we present the results of the matching procedure and the detailed dental analysis for the upper anterior teeth of three individuals (A1, J1 and J2). We compare the dental morphometric variability of these individuals to modern human and Neanderthal samples and discuss Late Pleistocene variation in modern human populations [1-3]. Crown dimensions (mesiodistal/buccolingual dimensions, crown height) were measured to the nearest 0.1mm using a sliding calliper. For the internal structures analysis (enamel thickness and dental tissue proportions), all teeth were imaged with micro-computed tomography. Volumes were reconstructed with an isotropic voxel size of 18.21μm. After segmentation, linear, surface, and volumetric variables were digitally measured or calculated for describing 3D and 2D crown tissue proportions and enamel thickness [4]. External enamel long period lines (perikymata) were counted under a light microscope, with replicas oriented perpendicularly to the microscope's optical axis [5]. At least nine individuals were identified from the dental remains, six juveniles and three adults. All the incisors from Fournol show notably large crown sizes in relation to the modern human comparative sample, especially for the mesiodistal diameter. In terms of dental tissue proportions, the absolute values of enamel and dentine are higher than the variability recorded in modern human comparative samples. The large crown dimensions are mainly due to a higher proportion of dentine in comparison to enamel. For upper central incisors, both average and relative enamel thickness (AET and RET respectively) values fall in the range of variation of modern humans and are slightly higher compared to the values for one Neanderthal specimen. For upper lateral incisors, 3D values for AET and RET are closer to Neanderthal samples but within the lower range of variation recorded for Holocene teeth. Total perikymata counts and the percentage of perikymata present in the cervical halves of the crowns are low in comparison to published modern human ranges. The range of perikymata counts in the cervical halves falls well in the range of Neanderthals for both upper central and lateral incisors. Our data reveal an undocumented biological variation in Upper Paleolithic human populations and suggest that there is a need for more quantitative information on Upper Pleistocene human teeth at the meso- and microstructural levels. This is crucial to fully appreciate the extent of modern human variation in dental development and in order to evaluate possible chrono-geographical trends in modern and fossil humans. [1] Smith, T.M., Olejniczak, A.J., Zermeno, J.P., Tafforeau, P., Skinner, M.M., Hoffmann, A., Radovčić, J., Toussaint, M., Kruszynski, R., Menter, C., Moggi-Cecchi, J., Glasmacher, U.A., Kullmer, O., Schrenk, F., Stringer, C., Hublin, J.-J., 2012. Variation in enamel thickness within the genus Homo. Journal of Human Evolution 62, 395-411. [2] Bayle, P., Alcaraz, M., Zapata, J., Lombardi, A.V., Pérez-Pérez, A., Pinilla, B., Le Luyer, M., Brown, K.A.R., Romero, A., Willman, J.C. and Lacy, S.A., 2017. The people of Palomas: Neandertals from the Sima de las Palomas del Cabezo Gordo, southeastern Spain (Vol. 19). Texas A&M University Press. [3] Guatelli-Steinberg, D, Reid, D.J., 2008. What molars contribute to an emerging understanding of lateral enamel formation in Neandertals vs. modern humans. Journal of Human Evolution 54, 236-250 [4] Olejniczak, A.J., Smith, T.M., Feeney, R.N.M., Macchiarelli, R., Mazurier, A., Bondioli, L., Rosas, A., Fortea, J., de la Rasilla, M., García-Tabernero, A., Radovcic, J., Skinner, M.M., Toussaint, M., Hublin, J.-J., 2008. Dental tissue proportions and enamel thickness in Neandertal and modern human molars. Journal of Human Evolution 55, 12-23. [5] Dean, C.M., Reid, D.J., 2001. Perikymata spacing and distribution on hominid anterior teeth. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 116, 209−215

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Dates et versions

hal-05615580 , version 1 (07-05-2026)

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  • HAL Id : hal-05615580 , version 1

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Emmy Bocaege, Mona Le Luyer, Priscilla Bayle, Adrien Thibeault, Anne Viero, et al.. Human upper incisors from the Gravettian site of Fournol (Soturac, Lot, France) show high biological variation in Upper Paleolithic human populations. 9th annual meeting of the European Society for the study of Human Evolution, Sep 2019, Liège, Belgium. Proceedings of the European Society for the study of Human Evolution, 8, pp.21, 2019. ⟨hal-05615580⟩
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