Dental Indicators of Health in Early Neolithic and Iron Age Skeletons from Taiwan

This study introduces, for the first time, data recorded in some of the oldest Neolithic skeletons from Taiwan and investigates biocultural implications of changes in subsistence in the earliest Neolithic and later Iron Age Taiwan. Human skeletons from two archaeological sites in Taiwan are included. The first skeletal series is from the Nankuanli East (NKLE) site (n = 23 individuals) located in the Tainan Science Park, Tainan City in southwestern Taiwan. The NKLE skeletons are associated with the Tapenkeng culture (ca. 5000 years BP), the earliest Neolithic cultural sequence in Taiwan. The second skeletal series from Taiwan is from the Shisanhang (SSH) site (n = 23 individuals), an Iron Age site (ca. 1800-500 years BP) located in northwestern Taiwan. The main objectives of this study are to 1) document selected indicators of oral/dental (antemortem tooth loss AMTL, dental caries, alveolar resorption, alveolar defects, dental calculus, and dental attrition) and physiological (linear enamel hypoplasia-LEH) health in the NKLE skeletons, 2) examine differences between male and female NKLE skeletons, 3) compare health in the early Neolithic and Iron Age Taiwan, and 4) place the prehistoric skeletons from Taiwan in a broader regional perspective. A relatively high frequency of LEH (51.3%), an indicator of infant and childhood health, was observed in the NKLE adult anterior teeth, indicating there was significant childhood stress experienced by the earliest Neolithic inhabitants of Taiwan. Relatively low frequencies of AMTL (0.3%), dental caries (1.9%), and alveolar defects (1.0%), and moderate levels of alveolar resorption (8.8%) and dental calculus (8.3%) were observed in the NKLE skeletons. Contrary to expectations, no significant sex differences were observed for most of the indicators of health observed in the NKLE series. However, compared to adult females, the frequency of advanced attrition was significantly higher in adult males, a difference * Department of Anthropology, University of Hawai`i at Mānoa, Honolulu. [email protected] ** Department of Anthropology, University of Hawai`i at Mānoa, Honolulu. [email protected] *** Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sincia, Taipei. [email protected] **** Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sincia, Taipei. [email protected] ***** Department of Anthropology, University of Hawai`i at Mānoa, Honolulu. [email protected]