Dental morphological variation in Chalcolithic and Bronze Age human populations from North-Eastern Romania

Abstract

Background: This study aims to evaluate the dental variability and the phenetic relationships among archaeological human populations of the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age in North-Eastern Romania.

Methods: The evaluation of phenotypic variability was performed using the 2D Geometric Morphometrics on the second molars (upper - M², and lower - M₂) belonging to adult skeletons discovered in archaeological sites of the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age in North-Eastern Romania.

Results: The size (Centroid Size, CS) and shape analysis of the second molar highlighted specific characteristics for each prehistoric period. The CS doesn't achieve any statistical significance for two of the comparison criterium used (i.e., period, archaeological site). Instead, statistically significant differences were recorded between males and females. The greater variability in the shape of M₂ compared to M² was noticed. The M₂ model of the Bronze Age is flattened mesiodistal compared to the Chalcolithic one, while differences in M² morphotypes are associated with the hypocone shape, particularly.

Conclusion: This study of dental morphology provides new data that could contribute as evidence of interactions between biological human groups in different regional prehistoric contexts.

Keywords: 2D geometric morphometrics; Dental phenetic relationships; Human second molar; North-Eastern Romania; Prehistory.