Multidisciplinary perspectives for the study of ancient diet and oral health: A case Study from the Central Region of Argentina

Abstract

This study represents the first comprehensive analysis of the oral cavity of a late initial Holocene period individual from the Central Highlands of Córdoba, Argentina. We employed an innovative, multidisciplinary suite of methods that combine macroscopic dental analysis, cone beam computed tomography, vegetable microremains, and genetic data to the study of the oral health and diet of the past populations from the Central Highlands. Results indicate that this individual presented severe dental wear, a high amount of dental tartar, periapical lesions, and caries. Silicophytoliths and starch grains were identified, demonstrating the consumption and/or manipulation of wild plants. Finally, by applying paleogenetic techniques, we could confirm the presence of the bacterium Streptococcus mutans in this individual, and therefore more broadly, in ancient samples from Argentina. We additionally identified the presence of a second bacterium, Fusobacterium nucleatum.