RT info:eu-repo/semantics/article
T1 New insight into prehistoric craft specialisation. Tooth-tool use in the Chalcolithic burial site of Camino del Molino, Murcia, SE Spain
A1 Díaz Navarro, Sonia
A1 García González, Rebeca
A1 Cirotto, Nico
A1 Haber Uriarte, María
K1 Prehistoria
K1 Arqueología
K1 Osteoarchaeology
K1 Prehistory
K1 Dental wear
K1 Craft Specialisation
K1 Osteoarqueología
K1 Prehistoria
K1 Desgaste dental
K1 5505.01 Arqueología
K1 5504.05 Prehistoria
AB The study of non-alimentary tooth wear is an excellent tool to identify the development of specific activities and thus, to delve deeper into the social organisation and complexity of past populations. This paper analyses extra-masticatory wear in the dentition of a sample of 102 articulated skeletons from Camino del Molino, a unique collective tomb that housed 1,348 individuals throughout two contiguous phases spanning much of the 3rd millennium BC. After preliminary macroscopic observation of the dental sample, 8 individuals with cultural dental wear were identified and 5 of them were analysed with SEM. In all cases, the maxillary anterior dentition displays evidence that can be defined as occlusal and interproximal grooves consisting of fine, parallel striations, as well as labial notches and chipping of the enamel. The results suggest that 8 individuals, mostly women, used their dentition in craft tasks, such as in the processing of fibres for textile production, hence representing the earliest evidence of craft specialisation in the Iberian Peninsula and potential proof of a possible sex-based division of labour in a Chalcolithic community.
PB Elsevier
SN 2352-409X
YR 2023
FD 2023
LK https://uvadoc.uva.es/handle/10324/59815
UL https://uvadoc.uva.es/handle/10324/59815
LA eng
NO Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2023, vol. 50, 104066
NO Producción Científica
DS UVaDOC
RD 23-dic-2024