Abscesses and other periapical lesions are found in abundance in recent archeological samples, yet are scarce in the fossil hominin record. Periapical voids commonly develop after exposure of a tooth’s pulp chamber and are commonly associated with heavy crown wear, trauma or caries. In this study, all available maxilla and mandible fragments from the South African fossil hominin collections were studied, including specimens assigned to Homo naledi, Paranthropus robustus, Australopithicus africanus, A. sediba and early Homo. Only one specimen displayed voids consistent with periapical lesions, and a differential diagnosis of these voids was undertaken. The specimen, SK 847, is described as early Homo and has been dated to 2.3-1.65MA. There is one definite abscess, and likely at least two more with postmortem damage, all on the anterior aspect of the maxilla and associated with the incisors. The abscesses originate from the apices of the incisor roots and are therefore unlikely to represent a systemic disease such as multiple myeloma. They best fit the description of an abscess rather than a cyst or granuloma, with one showing a rounded thickened rim around the lesion. The abscesses highlight that this individual used their anterior dentition extensively, to the point that the pulp chambers were exposed on multiple teeth. This is one of the earliest hominin examples of a dental abscess and shows that this individual was able to cope with several concurrent abscesses, clearly surviving for an extended period. Therefore, this finding adds additional information to the history of dental pathology in our genus.

中文翻译：

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200万年前的早期人类标本的上颌骨上有牙脓肿

在最近的考古样本中大量发现脓肿和其他根尖周病变，但在化石人类素记录中却很少。根尖空隙通常在牙齿的牙髓腔暴露后形成，并且通常与严重的冠磨损，外伤或龋齿有关。在这项研究中，研究了从南非化石人参素集合中获得的所有上颌骨和下颌骨碎片，包括分配给纳莱迪人，罗汉副虾，非洲南方古猿，A。sediba和早期人的标本。仅一个标本显示出与根尖周病变一致的空隙，并对这些空隙进行了鉴别诊断。标本SK 847被描述为早期Homo并已注明日期为2.3-1.65MA。在上颌骨的前侧且与门齿相关的有一个明确的脓肿，并且可能至少有两个有死后损害。脓肿起源于切牙根尖，因此不太可能代表全身性疾病，例如多发性骨髓瘤。它们最适合脓肿而不是囊肿或肉芽肿的描述，其中一个在病灶周围显示出圆形的加厚边缘。脓肿强调该人广泛使用其前牙，以致牙髓腔暴露在多颗牙齿上。这是牙周脓肿的最早的人源化实例之一，表明该人能够应付多种并发的脓肿，显然可以长期生存。因此，