DENTAL ARCHAEOLOGY OF THREE POPULATIONS OF CHRISTIANS AND NON-MUSLIMS IN POLLENTIA, MALLORCA
Date
2017-06-30
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Abstract
The diet, health, nutrition, and genetics of an individual leave unique and identifiable markers on dental remains. Those markers can be used to understand the diet and health of an ancient population. This study presents findings from an analysis of the dental remains of individuals from three Christian populations within the Roman city of Pollentia, located in Mallorca, Spain that was inhabited from 123 B.C. to 1229 A.D. The Christian populations of Ca’n Fanals and Sta. Ana are sites from the later Christian periods of the city, but the Forum is representative of the Islamic Period. My study compares the occurrence of hypoplasia, calculus, periodontitis, caries, occlusal wear, and agenesis to understand differences in diet and health between the three subsites. The comparison was conducted with One-Way ANOVA and Fisher’s Exact Test. The result of this comparison is that there is no significant difference in the occurrence of the six pathologies between Sta. Ana and the Forum. Despite living during the Islamic Period, the Christians of the Forum had the same access to high quality food to which the Christians of Sta. Ana. This study presents the possible explanations for this interesting situation.
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Archaeology, Dental Archaeology, Physical Anthropology, Biological Anthropology, Biology, Roman History, Spanish History