2023/03/05 by Cristian Micó, Ruth Blasco, Alicia Muñoz del Pozo +5 · 2 citations
Arts and Humanities · Earth and Planetary Sciences · Social Sciences · #Archaeology and ancient environmental studies #Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies #Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology
paper · doi:10.1080/08912963.2023.2184690
openalex publication_date 2023/03/05 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/22
Dental microwear is a common and wellestablished technique which allows the short-term reconstruction of the dietary behaviour in extinct and extant vertebrates, allowing inferences about daily, seasonal, or regional variations in diets. However, the use of this method may be limited because taphonomic processes can affect enamel surfaces and modify or obliterate dietary microwear features. Considering the substantial number of agents which can impact the archaeological record, dental microwear alteration processes are poorly known, producing a potential bias in dietary interpretations. In this study, the effect of trampling on dental occlusal surfaces, one of the most common processes recorded in archaeological assemblages, has been experimentally investigated for the first time. The results allowed us to (1) distinguish taphonomic and dietary marks; (2) assess the impacts of trampling on occlusal surfaces; and (3) infer the agents which modified the dental microwear from the teeth obtained from the archaeological sites. The importance of this work lies in the specific guidelines it offers to discriminate trampling marks from microwear features, improving the reliability of dietary interpretations.