Dental News - Researchers examine ancient diets using dental plaque

Dental Tribune International

Wed. 16 May 2012

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Reno, Nev., USA: By investigating dental plaque from skeletons buried in a Spanish cathedral, researchers from the USA have found a new way to gain information about the diet of ancient peoples. Their method could be a useful alternative to common research methods of this kind, usually conducted on bone, hair, muscle or nails.

The research was conducted by G. Richard Scott, associate professor and Chair of the department of anthropology in the College of Liberal Arts, and Simon R. Poulson, research professor of geological sciences in the Mackay School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, both at the University of Nevada, Reno.

Scott obtained samples of dental calculus from 58 skeletons buried in the Cathedral of Santa Maria located in the city of Vitoria-Gasteiz in northern Spain. The skeletons date from the 11th to 19th centuries. After his initial methodology obtained mixed results, Scott sent five samples of dental calculus to Poulson at the university's Stable Isotope Lab, on the off-chance they might contain enough carbon and nitrogen to allow them to estimate stable isotope ratios.

At the lab, the material was crushed and an instrument called a mass spectrometer was used to obtain stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios.

"It's chemistry and is pretty complex," Scott explained. "But basically, since only protein contains nitrogen, the more nitrogen that is present, the more animal products were consumed as part of the diet. Carbon provides information on the types of plants consumed."

According to Scott, no one really thought there would be enough carbon and nitrogen in the tiny 5 to 10 milligram samples to be measurable. However, the lab results yielded stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios very similar to studies that used bone collagen, which is the typical material used for this type of analysis.

Scott explained that the common practice of using bone to conduct such research is cumbersome and expensive, requiring several acid baths to extract the collagen for analysis. The process also leads to the destruction of the bone. So in many instances, it is not permitted by museum curators.

Research is also conducted on samples of hair, muscle and nails. "They are great, when you can find them. The problem is, they just don't hold up very well. They decompose too quickly. Dental calculus, for better or for worse, stays around a very long time," Scott explained.

He said that although additional work is necessary to firmly establish this new method of using dental calculus for paleodietary research, the results of this initial study indicate that it holds great potential.

"This is groundbreaking work," Scott said. "It could save a lot of time and effort, and also allow for analysis when things like hair, muscle and nails are no longer available."

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