International seminar n° 84 Melvin Vankelst

Speaker
Albert Epitíe Dyowe Roig
Postdoctoral Researcher, university of Barcelone
Unravelling the transition from hunter-gatherers to farmers in Southwest Asia through the morphological and wear study of dental remains
My study explores how human dentition changed during the Pleistocene–Holocene transition in Southwest Asia, a key period marking the shift from mobile foragers to the first farming communities.
Using an integrated approach that combines classical morphology, 3D dental topography, and wear analysis, I examined teeth from Natufian, Pre-Pottery Neolithic, and Pottery Neolithic populations to understand how evolving subsistence strategies shaped tooth form and function. The analysis reveals notable differences in dental morphology, topography, and wear patterns across the Natufian, Pre-Pottery Neolithic, and Pottery Neolithic periods. These variations suggest shifting functional demands on the dentition as communities underwent major changes in subsistence, mobility, and food-processing practices. Rather than a uniform trajectory, the dental evidence points to regionally and chronologically structured patterns of change throughout the Pleistocene–Holocene transition.
Place
- Room 410, 3rd floor, North wing, Build. B35, university of Poitiers.
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