NONDIETARY MARKS IN THE ANTERIOR DENTITION OF THE KRAPINA NEANDERTHALS

A sample of 82 anterior teeth from Krapina (Croatia) was studied using a light binocular microscope and a scanning electron microscope to do cument the presence of non-dietary dental scratches. The patterns of d istribution, location and orientation of these marks suggest two diffe rent aetiologies: scratches on the labial-occlusal enamel border appea r to be related to the action of clenching abrasive materials between teeth, while the scratches primarily in the centre of the labial face correspond to cutmarks as described by other researchers. These scratc hes may have been produced when flake tools involved in processing mat erials held between the anterior teeth came into contact with the labi al enamel face. Alternatively, they may simply reflect some consistent operation which pulled hard objects across the labial surfaces of the anterior teeth. In either case, the marks on the central face of the labial surface provide evidence far manual dexterity in the Neandertha ls. Of the seven Krapina individuals which show a predominant pattern, one shows a pattern of left oblique marks, while six provide evidence of right-handedness. Coupled with other Neanderthal or Upper Pleistoc ene individuals with these patterns, right-handedness is the dominant pattern in 90 per cent of the documented cases. One complicating facto r in the analysis of these scratches in the Krapina hominids is that m arks of a similar morphology are found in several anterior teeth of Ur sus spelaeus from the site. While resembling the marks on the hominid incisors, the scratches on the bears lack a dominant orientation on th e labial face and appear to be more variable in their widths. Despite the occurrence of some similarities in the enamel scratches between ur sids and hominids at Krapina, the study of anterior dental marks provi des information about manipulative activities which are unique to anci ent humans. (C) 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.