Direct evidence of plant consumption in Neolithic Eastern Sudan from dental calculus analysis

Abstract

The Neolithic communities of Eastern Sudan combined intensive pastoralism with plant exploitation as their main subsistence strategies. However, to date, it remains unclear which plant species were part of the human diet during the Neolithic. This contribution presents direct data on plant consumption in Eastern Sudan from the Early to Late Neolithic, obtained through the analysis of microdebris inclusions in the dental calculus of 37 individuals, integrated by dentoalveolar pathology analysis of 78 individuals, from the sites UA53 (4th millennium BCE) and Mahal Teglinos (3rd-2nd millennium BCE), located in the Gash Delta/Kassala region. Dental calculus inclusions indicate a diverse intake of cereals, legumes, and tubers during the Middle Neolithic, thus supporting the hypothesis of high reliance on plant resources. Dentoalveolar pathologies, possibly related to the consumption of carbohydrate-rich foods, have also been recorded. For the Late Neolithic, consistent with the shift towards aridity that occurred in the Middle/Late Holocene, dental calculus exclusively indicates the exploitation of sorghum and tubers-species well adapted to arid conditions-showing how the Neolithic communities modified their subsistence in response to environmental changes. Evidence of plant processing techniques, such as cooking/heating, was also revealed from the dental calculus analysis.

Figure 1

Image showing the location of the sites Upper Atbara 53 (UA53) and Mahal Teglinos (K1), in the Gash Delta/Kassala region, Eastern Sudan. Image courtesy of Stefano Costanzo, created with QGIS 3.4 (QGIS Development Team, 2019) using public domain satellite imagery datasets retrieved through the QGIS plugin QuickMapServices (NextGIS, 2019).

Figure 2

Starch granules, phytoliths, and vegetal tissue fragments from archaeological dental calculus of individuals from sites Upper Atbara 53 (UA53) and Mahal Teglinos (K1) in Eastern Sudan. (a) Morphotype 1: Triticeae starch granules from SD_25 (site K1 XII, Middle Neolithic). (b) Morphotype 2: Fabaceae starch granules from SD_34 (site K1 XII, Middle Neolithic). Note that the starches are still embedded in the calculus matrix. (c) Starch granule associated with tubers, showing similarities with the Encephalartos genus, from SD_10 (site K1 XII, Middle Neolithic). (d) Morphotype 4: Poaceae starch granule from SD_05 (site K1 XIV, Late Neolithic). (e) Modified starch granule from SD_01 (site UA53, Early Neolithic). (f) Starch granules of modern Vigna unguiculata (Fabaceae). (g) Starch granules of modern Sorghum bicolor (Poaceae). (h) Epidermal long-cell phytolith from SD_11 (site K1 XII, Middle Neolithic). (i) Bilobate short-cell phytolith commonly associated with the Poaceae from SD_17 (site K1 XII, Middle Neolithic). (j) Interdigitate phytolith from SD_24 (site K1 XII, Middle Neolithic). (k) Fragment of spongy parenchyma from SD_23 (site K1 XII, Middle Neolithic).

Figure 3

Dentoalveolar pathologies recorded from the site Mahal Teglinos (K1) in Eastern Sudan. (a) Dental caries affecting the upper right second molar (URM2) in a 40 + -year-old female individual (Tomb 52, Middle Neolithic). (b) Ante mortem tooth loss (AMTL) of the lower right first molar in a 40 + -year-old male individual (Tomb 23, Middle Neolithic). (c) Abscess and AMTL of the lower right first molar in a 40 + -year-old male individual (Tomb 30, Middle Neolithic). (d) Abscess and AMTL of the lower right first and second molars in a 40 + -year-old female individual (Tomb 111, Middle Neolithic).

Figure 4

Archaeological dental calculus preserved on teeth from Neolithic sites Upper Atbara 53 (UA53) and Mahal Teglinos (K1) in Eastern Sudan. (a) Site K1 XII, Tomb 61. (b) Site K1 XII, Tomb 78 (Sk.1). (c) Site K1 XII, Tomb 73 (Sk.1). (d) Site K1 XII, Tomb 28. (e) Site K1 XII, Tomb 36. (f) Site K1 XII, Tomb 26. (g) Site K1 XIV, Tomb 8 (Sk.1). (h) Site K1 XII, Tomb 50. (i) Site K1 XII, Tomb 72. (Scale bar: 1 cm.).