RAPID: Collaborative Proposal: Dental health and the transition from foraging to agriculture

University Of Arkansas, Fayetteville AR

Investigators

Abstract

The transition from foraging to agriculture was a decisive turning point in human history that affected many aspects of society. Previous bioarchaeological research has focused on apparent changes in human oral biology, including increases in cavities and other dental problems, during this transition, but modern cross-cultural data have suggested that the relationship between subsistence strategy and oral health is more complicated. This project will investigate incidences of dental disorders among living foragers who are transitioning from a diet of wild foods to one dominated by crops. Issues such as resource depletion, shared land use, ethnotourism, and increased land regulations are rapidly making the foraging way of life unsustainable, and this project may represent the last opportunity to witness firsthand the effects of a transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture on human oral biology. In addition to addressing longstanding anthropological questions about the effects of subsistence strategies on human cultures, this research has several broader impacts, including: support of a junior female scientist; advancement of scientific research and capabilities at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and the University of Arkansas, both public universities in states historically underrepresented in federally funded research; and dissemination of results beyond biological anthropology to the dental research community, given possible implications for understanding oral environments and improving preventative dentistry. Most models relating declining dental health to a shift from foraged foods to cultigens have been based on data from bioarcheological samples as well as living foragers at higher latitudes. This is problematic because it misses a large segment of humanity, warm-climate foragers. All tropical foraging populations today consume fermentable carbohydrates, which are cariogenic. The aim of this project is to study the Hadza of Tanzania, sampling approximately 30 individuals each of: (1) Hadza residing in camps where diet includes mostly cultigens, (2) Hadza residing in bush camps where diet is largely, or exclusively, wild foods, and (3) Hadza residing in camps in transition, where diet is composed of a mixture of wild and cultivated foods. The extent of orthodontic disorders (dental crowding, impaction, malocclusion) and periodontal disease will be scored, and number of identifiable caries will be recorded for each subject. In addition, data on diet composition (using 24-hour dietary recalls), group affiliation (i.e. camp setting), duration of residence in village and bush camps, sex, and age will be recorded for each individual. The effects of these factors will be assessed with a statistical model designed to determine the influences of each on oral health.