ENAMEL HYPOPLASIA IN THE MIDDLE PLEISTOCENE HOMINIDS FROM ATAPUERCA (SPAIN)

The prevalence and chronology of enamel hypoplasias were studied in a hominid dental sample from the Sima de los Huesos (SH) Middle Pleistoc ene site at the Sierra de Atapuerca (Burgos, northern Spain). A total of 89 permanent maxillary teeth, 143 permanent mandibular teeth, and o ne deciduous lower canine, belonging to a minimum of 29 individuals, w ere examined. Excluding the antimeres (16 maxillary and 37 mandibular cases) from the sample, the prevalence of hypoplasias in the permanent dentition is 12.8% (23/179), whereas the deciduous tooth also showed an enamel defect. No statistically significant differences were found between both arcades and between the anterior and postcanine teeth for the prevalence of hypoplasias. In both the maxilla and the mandible t he highest frequency of enamel hypoplasias was recorded in the canines . Only one tooth (a permanent upper canine) showed two different ename l defects, and most of the hypoplasias were expressed as faint linear horizontal defects. Taking into account the limitations that the incom pleteness of virtually all permanent dentitions imposes, we have estim ated that the frequency by individual in the SH hominid sample was not greater than 40%. Most of the hypoplasias occurred between birth and 7 years (N = 18, X = 3.5, SD = 1.3). Both the prevalence and severity of the hypoplasias of the SH hominid sample are significantly less tha n those of a large Neandertal sample. Furthermore, prehistoric hunter- gatherers and historic agricultural and industrial populations exhibit a prevalence of hypoplasias generally higher than that of the SH homi nids. Implications for the survival strategies and life quality of the SH hominids are also discussed. (C) 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.