Análisis de antropologia fisica y de paleopatologia de los restos de los craneos y dientes pertenecientes al yacimiento Leonor de Austria (Mérida, Badajoz)

Abstract

Introduction: The human remains on which this study is based were found in an area of the old Roman town of Augusta Emerita, presently, Mérida, Spain. The necropolis can be found on Leonor de Austria Street. The first burials performed in this necropolis occurred during the second half of the First c. A.D., and burials kept occurring intermittently between the ninth and the eleventh c. A.D. This period of time coincides with the historical relevance of the area, since its Roman foundation until the Muslim Caliphate of Al-Andalus. Objectives: Analysis of the cranial bone remains of the site located in Leonor de Austria Street, in order to know the paleopathology of the population buried in this site, to study the dental, anatomical, physical and anthropological characteristics of the bone remains as well as study the dental remains found from a paleopathological point of view. Materials and Methodology: The samples used in this research are the craniums. We will carry out mesial-distal and bucco-lingual measurements of all our dental samples and we will describe and record each individual´s anomalies and dental pathologies. Results: Our results show statistically significant differences in the mesial-distal and bucco-lingual measurements, based on the sex of the individual as well as the age to which the remains belong. We also obtained connections between the variables of cavities, tartar, periodontal disease and tooth erosion, based on the sex and age of the remains. Discussion: Our data and results agree with previous authors, with the difference of the statistically significant results. Conclusions: Our research shows differences in the mesial-distal and bucco-lingual measurements, based on the sex of the individual as well as the age to which the remains belong. Male dental size was found to be bigger. Is was also found that the three populations studied had suffered from cavities, more prevalent in male subjects than female ones. The presence of tartar was also found in the three populations, more predominantly in male subjects belonging to the Al-Andalus population. Pathological dental erosion was discovered in all subjects, more prevalently in male ones, and was deemed non-related to diet. Instead, we concluded that it was probably attributed to bruxism or to the usage of teeth as tools.