The Advent of Agriculture and the Corresponding Effect on the Human Masticatory Complex.
Journal Title: International Journal of Dental Science and Innovative Research (IJDSIR) - Year 2019, Vol 2, Issue 2
Abstract
In prehistoric era, humans solely depended on foraging and hunting for their existence. The food that they ate was tough and it required a lot of masticatory force for chewing. The result was that prehistoric humans possessed more robust crania and jaws. Their teeth showed signs of wear due to the heavy masticatory forces. Later, certain groups of humans began to domesticate plants for food thereby giving rise to the agricultural era. Thus, humans began to rely on softer and more refined food. This shift in the nature of the diet had a profound impact on the cranial, jaw and dental architecture. The newer, softer food required lesser masticatory forces for chewing. Consequently, stresses to the crania, jaws and teeth were reduced which led to a corresponding change in their respective forms. This article highlights the changes induced in the human masticatory complex as a result of the advent of agriculture in the history of mankind. Introduction Around ten thousand years ago, certain human groups began to depend on diets derived from domesticated plants and animals rather than acquiring wild sources of food via hunting and foraging. This change in diet occurred independently in several global regions, with particular starchy crops (example: wheat, barley, rice, maize).1 Agricultural diets are generally less variable, higher in starch and sugars and lower in protein compared with forager diets. Agricultural diets are also softer on average than forager diets, meaning that they are mechanically less demanding in terms of chewing.1 Softer agricultural food reduces the masticatory demand, resulting in less robust craniofacial skeletons, reduced and repositioned masticatory muscles.2 Several studies comparing hunter-gatherer and farming populations in Nubia, Ohio Valley and Southern Levant have supported the associated change between the masticatory apparatus and the initial transition to agriculture.3
Authors and Affiliations
Dr. Olavo Neil
Keywords
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