RAPID: Collaborative Proposal: Dental health and the transition from foraging to agriculture

从觅食到农业的转变是人类历史上影响社会许多方面的决定性转折点。以前的生物考古学研究集中在人类口腔生物学的明显变化，包括在这一转变过程中蛀牙和其他牙齿问题的增加，但现代跨文化数据表明，生存策略和口腔健康之间的关系更加复杂。该项目将调查从野生食物饮食过渡到以农作物为主的觅食者中牙齿疾病的发生率。资源枯竭、共享土地使用、民族旅游和土地法规的增加等问题正在迅速使觅食的生活方式变得不可持续，这个项目可能是亲眼目睹从狩猎和采集到农业对人类口腔生物学的影响的最后机会。除了解决关于生存战略对人类文化的影响的长期人类学问题外，这项研究还产生了若干更广泛的影响，包括：一名年轻女科学家的支持;内华达州、拉斯维加斯和阿肯色州大学的科学研究和能力的进步，这两所公立大学都在联邦资助的研究中历来代表性不足的州;并将生物人类学以外的结果传播给牙科研究界，这可能对理解口腔环境和改善预防性牙科产生影响。大多数模型都将牙齿健康状况的下降与从觅食食物到养殖食物的转变联系起来，这些模型都是基于生物考古学样本以及高纬度地区生活的觅食者的数据。 这是有问题的，因为它错过了很大一部分人类，温暖气候的觅食者。 今天所有的热带觅食人口消耗可发酵的碳水化合物，这是致龋的。该项目的目的是研究坦桑尼亚的哈扎人，从下列各群体中抽取约30人：（1）哈扎人居住在饮食主要包括栽培物的营地，（2）哈扎人居住在饮食主要或完全是野生食物的丛林营地，（3）哈扎人居住在饮食由野生和栽培食物混合组成的过渡营地。将对正畸疾病（牙齿拥挤、嵌塞、咬合不正）和牙周病的程度进行评分，并记录每例受试者可识别的龋齿数量。此外，还将记录每个个体的饮食组成（使用24小时饮食回忆）、群体隶属关系（即营地设置）、在村庄和丛林营地居住的时间、性别和年龄等数据。这些因素的影响将通过统计模型进行评估，以确定每个因素对口腔健康的影响。

The transition from foraging to agriculture was a decisive turning point in human history that affected many aspects of society. Previous bioarchaeological research has focused on apparent changes in human oral biology, including increases in cavities and other dental problems, during this transition, but modern cross-cultural data have suggested that the relationship between subsistence strategy and oral health is more complicated. This project will investigate incidences of dental disorders among living foragers who are transitioning from a diet of wild foods to one dominated by crops. Issues such as resource depletion, shared land use, ethnotourism, and increased land regulations are rapidly making the foraging way of life unsustainable, and this project may represent the last opportunity to witness firsthand the effects of a transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture on human oral biology. In addition to addressing longstanding anthropological questions about the effects of subsistence strategies on human cultures, this research has several broader impacts, including: support of a junior female scientist; advancement of scientific research and capabilities at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and the University of Arkansas, both public universities in states historically underrepresented in federally funded research; and dissemination of results beyond biological anthropology to the dental research community, given possible implications for understanding oral environments and improving preventative dentistry. Most models relating declining dental health to a shift from foraged foods to cultigens have been based on data from bioarcheological samples as well as living foragers at higher latitudes. This is problematic because it misses a large segment of humanity, warm-climate foragers. All tropical foraging populations today consume fermentable carbohydrates, which are cariogenic. The aim of this project is to study the Hadza of Tanzania, sampling approximately 30 individuals each of: (1) Hadza residing in camps where diet includes mostly cultigens, (2) Hadza residing in bush camps where diet is largely, or exclusively, wild foods, and (3) Hadza residing in camps in transition, where diet is composed of a mixture of wild and cultivated foods. The extent of orthodontic disorders (dental crowding, impaction, malocclusion) and periodontal disease will be scored, and number of identifiable caries will be recorded for each subject. In addition, data on diet composition (using 24-hour dietary recalls), group affiliation (i.e. camp setting), duration of residence in village and bush camps, sex, and age will be recorded for each individual. The effects of these factors will be assessed with a statistical model designed to determine the influences of each on oral health.