Brief Communication: An Incipient Coronal Caries Lesion on a Neandertal Molar Tooth From El Sidrón Cave (Northern Spain)
This pit lesion resembles the appearance of other Neandertal carious lesions, all from temperate environments. Calcium and phosphorus loss has been documented as has been characterized on dental caries. Regarding the etiology, we propose that an intense masticatory and para-masticatory activity combined with evidence for a mixed diet with a high carbohydrate component, the molar tooth may have developed a crack lesion, which was then colonized by a bacterial biofilm that deepened into the dentine and developed this small channel-shaped caries.
Authors
- Antonio García‐Tabernero (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5400-5630)
- Antonio Rosas (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5829-9952)
- Almudena Estalrrich (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2295-5396)
- José Antonio Alarcón (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3977-476X)
Institutions
- Universidad de Cantabria (ES)
- Universidad de Granada (ES)
- Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (ES)
- University of Arkansas at Fayetteville (US)
- Universidad de León (ES)
Publication Details
- Journal
- American Journal of Biological Anthropology
- Published
- 2025-07-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.70088
- Primary Topic
- Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación
- Universidad de Granada
- Fundación Palarq
- Agencia Estatal de Investigación