Dental developmental patterns and tooth internal structure in European Upper Paleolithic humans
Résumé
While differences have been reported between Neandertals and extant humans in their patterns of dental development and internal tooth structure, few studies have focused on the evaluation of these parameters in Upper Paleolithic humans. Above all, dental maturational patterns and metameric variation in tissue proportions along the arcade, and how these processes are linked together, have not been quantified through the Upper Paleolithic. Here we used microCT-based data, as well as radiographic and CT records, to finely quantify these variables in the deciduous and permanent dentitions of the Gravettian child from Lagar Velho, in Portugal, the Middle Magdalenian individual Lafaye 25 from Bruniquel, and the Epipaleolithic child from La Madeleine, both in France, and compare the measures between themselves and to the Neandertals, historical and extant humans of worldwide origins. While the Gravettian child shows a discrepancy in its incisor relative to mol ar development compared to extant children, the Magdalenian and Epipaleolithic individuals fit this comparative sample and differ from the Neandertal pattern. This is complemented by differences in tissue proportions between Lagar Velho and the two more recent individuals, the first having particularly large incisor dentine volumes and high metameric variation. Although future investigations are needed to unlock the genetically- and/or functionally-related factors sustaining these observations, our results suggest that the dental developmental and structural variation, still far from being documented, may bring significant contribution to the recent reappraisal of the human paleobiological and phylogenetic history throughout the European Upper Paleolithic.