Objective

Differential diagnosis and tabulation of cases of dental agenesis in Middle and Upper Paleolithic Western Eurasian humans to synthesize this data and to test previous hypotheses about when recent human patterns of third molar agenesis were established.

Materials

139 Late Pleistocene human remains and 149 individuals from three Epi-Paleolithic/ Holocene non-agricultural comparative collections.

Methods

All remains were visually and radiographically recorded by the author.

Results

In addition to establishing that third molar agenesis was common during the Late Upper Paleolithic (22,500–10,000 years BP), this study suggests a pattern of increasing prevalence through time.

Conclusions

An increase in the prevalence of third molar agenesis in the Late Upper Paleolithic could indicate selection for dental size reduction and orthognathy, but also bio-cultural changes from more intensive food preparation techniques.

Significance

Third molar agenesis, a well-known developmental defect, is often reported for recent human skeletal collections, but the prevalence of the condition for Pleistocene hominins had not been previously quantified in order to consider patterns through time. Hypotheses posited for the high prevalence of third molar agenesis, or hypodontia in general, in some recent human groups require an understanding of the prevalence of these traits in the past.

Limitations

Paleolithic skeletal remains are incomplete, so these values are under-estimations. Individuals are also separated diachronically and geographically and should not be assumed to represent a single population sample.

Suggestions for Further Research

Hypotheses on some of the potential selective forces acting on dental size reduction and subsequent agenesis could be tested in recent humans.

中文翻译：

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晚更新世人类牙齿发育不全的证据

客观的

旧石器时代西部欧亚人牙齿发育不全病例的鉴别诊断和列表，以综合这些数据并检验先前关于人类第三磨牙发育不全模式何时建立的假设。

材料

来自三个旧石器时代/全新世非农业比较收藏品的 139 具更新世晚期人类遗骸和 149 具个体。

方法

作者对所有遗骸进行了视觉和射线照相记录。

结果

除了确定第三磨牙发育不全在旧石器时代晚期（22,500-10,000 年前）很常见之外，这项研究还表明了随着时间的推移患病率增加的模式。

结论

旧石器时代晚期第三磨牙发育不全的流行率增加可能表明选择了牙齿尺寸减小和正颌，但也表明更密集的食物制备技术带来的生物文化变化。

意义

第三磨牙发育不全，一种众所周知的发育缺陷，经常在最近的人类骨骼收藏中被报道，但更新世人类疾病的患病率以前没有被量化，以便考虑随着时间的推移模式。在某些最近的人类群体中，第三磨牙发育不全或一般牙齿发育不全的高流行率假设需要了解过去这些特征的流行率。

限制

旧石器时代的骨骼遗骸不完整，因此这些值被低估了。个体在历时和地理上也是分开的，不应假设代表单个人口样本。

进一步研究的建议

可以在最近的人类中测试关于一些潜在的选择力作用于牙齿尺寸减小和随后的发育不全的假设。