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Annual Review of Anthropology

Volume 42, 2013

Teeth and Human Life-History Evolution*

Abstract

Modern humans differ from wild great apes in gestation length, weaning age, interbirth interval, sexual maturity, and longevity, but evolutionary anthropologists do not know when these distinctive life-history conditions evolved. Dental tissues contain faithful records of birth and incremental growth, and scholars suggest that molar eruption age, tooth wear, growth disturbances, tooth chemistry, and/or tooth calcification may provide insight into the evolution of human life history. However, recent comparative approaches and empirical evidence demonstrate that caution is warranted when inferring hominin weaning ages or interbirth intervals from first molar eruption, tooth wear, or growth disturbances. Fine-scaled studies of tooth chemistry provide direct evidence of weaning. Early hominin tooth calcification is more ape-like than human-like, and fully modern patterns appear only after Neanderthals and diverged, concurrent with changes in cranial and postcranial development. Additional studies are needed to relate these novel calcification patterns to specific changes in life-history variables.

Keyword(s): calcification, dental development, human evolution, molar eruption, tooth chemistry, tooth wear, weaning
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2013-10-21
2025-06-19
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Teeth and Human Life-History Evolution*
Annual Review of Anthropology 42, 191 (2013); https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-anthro-092412-155550
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Supplementary Data

  • Download Supplemental Figures 1-3 as a PDF (also reproduced below).

    Supplemental Figure 1: Histological assessments of crown formation and age at death.

    Enamel is signified by E, dentine by D, and the dark line between the two is the enamel dentine junction (EDJ). (1) Cuspal enamel formation begins over the tip of the dentine horn, where enamel is secreted outward in an appositional manner until the full thickness of cuspal enamel is produced. The neonatal line (day of birth) is indicated by a dotted white line. (2) Lateral enamel formation is represented by long-period lines running from the EDJ to the tooth surface. In this region, enamel grows by extension along the EDJ down towards the future cervix, and by apposition from the EDJ to the tooth surface. (3) Root dentine grows inwards towards the future pulp cavity, and ceases at the time of death (when death occurs prior to developmental completion). For more information on age at death determination from assessments of incremental growth lines see Smith et al. (2006, 2008), Smith and Tafforeau (2008), and Antoine et al. (2009).

    Supplemental Figure 2: Incremental growth lines in teeth.

    Transmitted light micrographs of long- and short-period incremental lines in the enamel and dentine of a macaque first molar. (1) High-magnification image of outer enamel showing long-period Retzius lines (dotted lines) running diagonally to the tooth surface (on the left). Daily cross-striations (white arrows) can be seen; four cross-striations may be counted between pairs of Retzius lines, representing the Retzius line periodicity. (2) Low-magnification overview of the cervical region of the molar cusp, with enamel (E) on the left and dentine (D) on the right. Long-period lines may be faintly seen in both tissues, running in opposite directions (indicated by arrows) from the enamel dentine junction. A well-defined line to the right of the arrow in the dentine represents an accentuated line formed just prior to enamel completion. (3) High-magnification image of the daily von Ebner’s lines in the dentine (white arrows), which are generally difficult to image between long-period (Andresen) lines. For more information on incremental growth lines and tooth formation see Hillson (1996), Dean (2006), Smith (2008), and Smith & Tafforeau (2008).

    Supplemental Figure 3: Schematic of chemical and developmental information revealed in a tooth section.

    Tooth growth and mineralization follow an incremental pattern that creates daily growth lines (indicated by short white lines in the left inset), as well as a neonatal line (NL) at birth. Growth starts at the enamel-dentine junction and both tissues continue to grow away from the junction (arrows) and towards the root. As the tooth mineralizes, barium and other elements are incorporated into the tissue depending on the amount circulating through the body and specific chemical properties. Variation in circulating barium levels lead to concentration patterns that reflect dietary transitions. For more information see Austin et al. (2013).

    Supplemental Literature Cited in Figures

    Antoine D, Hillson S, Dean MC. 2009. The developmental clock of dental enamel: a test for the periodicity of prism cross-striations in modern humans and an evaluation of the most likely sources of error in histological studies of this kind. J. Anat. 214:45–55

    Smith TM, Reid DJ, Sirianni JE. 2006. The accuracy of histological assessments of dental development and age at death. J. Anat. 208:125–38

    Note: All other references appear in the main text.

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