Dental microwear analysis is a proxy for analysing the diet in extinct and extant vertebrates, especially mammals. The limits of these approaches are still rather poorly known, especially in terms of taphonomic impacts. Indeed, several physical or chemical phenomena may have altered the microscopic features linked to the diet and compromised their study. In this article, we evaluate the effect of sediment abrasion on teeth on low-magnification tooth wear studies. We used a tumbling machine in order to reproduce abrasion marks on 57 molars and premolars of Equus sp., Capra hircus and Sus scrofa employing two types of sediments: a mixture of clay and sand sediment with small (150–200 μm) and rounded particles and a sandy one with larger (350–500 μm) and sub-angular particles. The teeth underwent up to 2 h of tumbling simulation, and casts were made at regular intervals in order to evaluate the evolution of the taphonomic impact over time. Our experiment shows that (1) both sediments strongly alter the teeth after a certain time; (2) the fine particles contained in the mix of sand and clay sediment have a much stronger impact on the enamel than the sand; (3) the mix of clay and sand sediment tends to increase the number of pits and reduce the number of scratches, vice versa for the sand; and (4) sedimentary and dietary marks do not have the same morphology and can be distinguished. The abrasion marks (compared to dietary scratches) tend to be wider, shorter, with an isotropic distribution, more frequent on the most exposed parts of the teeth (such as the cusps or the edges). The pits resulting from sediment tumbling present an irregular morphology in comparison with dietary pits, which are rounder. Both sediments have an impact on the enamel surfaces. Thus, when signs of taphonomic alteration (e.g. presence of abrasion marks, taphonomic pits, notches in the edges of enamel) are documented, we recommend avoiding studying the tips of the cups of the Suidae (and probably other bunodont teeth) and the portions of enamel at the edge of equid teeth which are more affected by taphonomic processes, especially in the mix of sand and clay sediment. This work has important implications for microwear studies applied to fossil samples. It makes it possible to recognize some taphonomic features linked to mechanical abrasion of the enamel, to consider with more caution the teeth that have been preserved in fine sediment and to choose, in order to characterise the diet, the areas least impacted by taphonomic alterations.

牙齿微磨损分析是分析已灭绝和现存脊椎动物（尤其是哺乳动物）饮食的代理。这些方法的局限性仍然知之甚少，尤其是在埋藏学影响方面。事实上，一些物理或化学现象可能已经改变了与饮食相关的微观特征并影响了他们的研究。在本文中，我们在低倍率牙齿磨损研究中评估了沉积物磨损对牙齿的影响。我们使用翻滚机器在Equus sp.、Capra hircus和Sus scrofa 的57 颗磨牙和前磨牙上复制磨损痕迹使用两种类型的沉积物：粘土和沙子沉积物的混合物，具有小（150-200 微米）和圆形颗粒，以及沙质沉积物，具有较大（350-500 微米）和亚角颗粒。牙齿经历了长达 2 小时的翻滚模拟，并定期进行铸模以评估埋葬影响随时间的演变。我们的实验表明：（1）两种沉积物在一定时间后都会强烈地改变牙齿；(2)砂和粘土沉积物的混合物中所含的细颗粒对釉质的影响比砂强得多；(3)黏土和沙子沉积物的混合往往会增加坑的数量和减少划痕的数量，反之对沙子；(4) 沉积标志和饮食标志不具有相同的形态，可以区分。磨损痕迹（与饮食划痕相比）往往更宽、更短、呈各向同性分布，在牙齿最暴露的部分（例如牙尖或边缘）上更频繁。与更圆的饮食坑相比，沉积物翻滚产生的坑呈现出不规则的形态。两种沉积物都会对牙釉质表面产生影响。因此，当记录到牙形改变的迹象（例如存在磨损痕迹、牙形凹坑、牙釉质边缘的凹痕）时，我们建议避免研究 Suidae 的牙槽尖（可能还有其他 bunodont 牙齿）和牙釉质的部分马齿边缘的牙釉质受填埋过程的影响更大，特别是在沙子和粘土沉积物的混合物中。这项工作对应用于化石样本的微磨损研究具有重要意义。