title: Earliest evidence of dental caries manipulation in the Late Upper Palaeolithic.
abstract: Prehistoric dental treatments were extremely rare, and the few documented cases are known from the Neolithic, when the adoption of early farming culture caused an increase of carious lesions. Here we report the earliest evidence of dental caries intervention on a Late Upper Palaeolithic modern human specimen (Villabruna) from a burial in Northern Italy. Using Scanning Electron Microscopy we show the presence of striations deriving from the manipulation of a large occlusal carious cavity of the lower right third molar. The striations have a "V"-shaped transverse section and several parallel micro-scratches at their base, as typically displayed by cutmarks on teeth. Based on in vitro experimental replication and a complete functional reconstruction of the Villabruna dental arches, we confirm that the identified striations and the associated extensive enamel chipping on the mesial wall of the cavity were produced ante-mortem by pointed flint tools during scratching and levering activities. The Villabruna specimen is therefore the oldest known evidence of dental caries intervention, suggesting at least some knowledge of disease treatment well before the Neolithic. This study suggests that primitive forms of carious treatment in human evolution entail an adaptation of the well-known toothpicking for levering and scratching rather than drilling practices.
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Biology, University of Florence, Via del Proconsolo, 12, 50122 Firenze, Italy [2] Department of Cultural Heritage, University of Bologna, Via degli Ariani 1, 48121 Ravenna, Italy [3] Sezione di Scienze Preistoriche e Antropologiche, Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici, Corso Ercole I d'Este 32, Università di Ferrara, 44100 Ferrara, Italy.
authors.forename: Gregorio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Oxilia
authors.affiliation: Sezione di Scienze Preistoriche e Antropologiche, Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici, Corso Ercole I d'Este 32, Università di Ferrara, 44100 Ferrara, Italy.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Peresani
authors.affiliation: Sezione di Scienze Preistoriche e Antropologiche, Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici, Corso Ercole I d'Este 32, Università di Ferrara, 44100 Ferrara, Italy.
authors.forename: Matteo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Romandini
authors.affiliation: Department of Cultural Heritage, University of Bologna, Via degli Ariani 1, 48121 Ravenna, Italy.
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Matteucci
authors.affiliation: 1] Plant Foods in Hominin Dietary Ecology Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany [2] Institut für Ur- und Frühgeschichte und Archäologie des Mittelaters, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Schloss Hohentübingen, 72070 Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Cynthianne Debono
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Spiteri
authors.affiliation: 1] Plant Foods in Hominin Dietary Ecology Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany [2] Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Amanda G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Henry
authors.affiliation: Dental Workshop Bensheim, Private Laboratory for Training, Research and Methods, Siegfriedstraße 104, 64646 Heppenheim, Germany.
authors.forename: Dieter
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Schulz
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Will
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Archer
authors.affiliation: 1] CeSQ, Centro Studi sul Quaternario ONLUS., Via Nuova dell'Ammazzatoio 7, I-52037 Sansepolcro (Arezzo), Italy [2] Università degli Studi di Siena, Dipartimento di Scienze Fisiche, della Terra e dell'Ambiente, Unità di Ricerca Preistoria e Antropologia, Via Laterina 8, 53100 Siena, Italy.
authors.forename: Jacopo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Crezzini
authors.affiliation: 1] CeSQ, Centro Studi sul Quaternario ONLUS., Via Nuova dell'Ammazzatoio 7, I-52037 Sansepolcro (Arezzo), Italy [2] Università degli Studi di Siena, Dipartimento di Scienze Fisiche, della Terra e dell'Ambiente, Unità di Ricerca Preistoria e Antropologia, Via Laterina 8, 53100 Siena, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Boschin
authors.affiliation: Università degli Studi di Siena, Dipartimento di Scienze Fisiche, della Terra e dell'Ambiente, Unità di Ricerca Preistoria e Antropologia, Via Laterina 8, 53100 Siena, Italy.
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Boscato
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Klervia
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Jaouen
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Tamara
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Dogandzic
authors.affiliation: Sezione di Scienze Preistoriche e Antropologiche, Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici, Corso Ercole I d'Este 32, Università di Ferrara, 44100 Ferrara, Italy.
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Broglio
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Biology, University of Florence, Via del Proconsolo, 12, 50122 Firenze, Italy [2] Università degli Studi di Siena, Dipartimento di Scienze Fisiche, della Terra e dell'Ambiente, Unità di Ricerca Preistoria e Antropologia, Via Laterina 8, 53100 Siena, Italy.
authors.forename: Jacopo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Moggi-Cecchi
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology, Monash University,Melbourne VIC 3800, Australia [2] Earth Sciences, University of New England, Armidale NSW 2351, Australia.
authors.forename: Luca
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fiorenza
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Jean-Jacques
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Hublin
authors.affiliation: Senckenberg Research Institute, Senckenberganlage 25, 60325 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
authors.forename: Ottmar
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Kullmer
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Cultural Heritage, University of Bologna, Via degli Ariani 1, 48121 Ravenna, Italy [2] Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Benazzi
mesh_terms: D003731:Dental Caries / Q000628:therapy*; D005580:Fossils; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning