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Course Sheet Academic Year of enrolment:
Disciplinary Sector:
Population Studies, Ethnography and Anthropology
Professor and Collaborators:
Hours of classroom activity:
Objectives
Contents The course describes the morphometric variability of the dentition of both the species that preceded modern humans and of current human populations. It also describes the main archaeological and forensic survey techniques that have teeth as data source.
Extended Syllabus Introduction to Dental Anthropology with presentation of the program. Definition and history of the discipline. Overview of anatomy and dental histology. Importance of the study of human remains, in particular of the teeth, as a contribution to the history of medicine (in particular of the dental practice) and of the evolution of the masticatory apparatus. The study of teeth in paleoanthropology and palethnology: morpho-functional changes from early hominids to modern humans. Comparative odontology: comparison of the teeth of different living and fossil species. The study of teeth in archeology: reconstruction of eating habits, stress indicators (case study – Herculaneum population’s hypoplasia) and the state of health of a population (paleopathology). Variability of dental wear. Methods of studying dental wear caused by feeding, cultural practices, intentional modifications. Importance of the study of teeth in application to forensic odontology. The variability of metric characters. Variability concept. Tools and methods. Case studies. Variability of non-metric characters, or "anomalies". Causes and manifestations. Case studies. Sexual dimorphism and age estimation. Utilities in physical and forensic anthropology. The diachronic and synchronic ethnic variability. Case studies on ancient and modern populations. New investigation techniques: μCT in the light of Sincrotrone; study of trace elements (eg laser ablation). Exercise in the osteology laboratory of the Operative Unit of Anthropology: osteometry, Identification of maxillary and mandibular fragments; identification of dental elements. Wear analysis; age estimate.
Recommended Bibliography At the moment there are no reference books, so that, during the course and during the exercise, a dispensation will be provided consisting of articles and chapters from monographs of interest to the dental anthropology.
Teaching Methods Lectures and laboratory activities
Evaluation methods Verification of learning:
The verification of learning will take place through a closed-response test. The test consists of fifteen questions useful for assessing both the knowledge of the variability of dental characters and odontometric methods, and the technical-scientific skills in the choice of the most suitable methods to be applied taking into account the objectives and the patient sample. The vote is expressed in thirtieths.
Contacts/More Information Student reception on Monday at 12.00 am at the Operative Unit of Anthropology. Contacts: tel. 0871.3553502; e-mail: r.danastasio@unich.it