This book critically reviews theory, assumptions, methods and literature to examine the unique role of teeth in preserving records of human growth.

Human children grow at a uniquely slow pace by comparison with other mammals. When and where did this schedule evolve? Have technological advances, farming and cities had any effect upon it? Addressing these and other key questions in palaeoanthropology and bioarchaeology, Simon Hillson examines the unique role of teeth in preserving detailed microscopic records of development throughout childhood and into adulthood. The text critically reviews theory, assumptions, methods and literature, providing the dental histology background to anthropological studies of both growth rate and growth disruption. Chapters also examine existing studies of growth rate in the context of human evolution and primate development more generally, together with implications for life history. The final chapters consider how defects in the tooth development sequence shed light on the consequences of biological and social transitions, contributing to our understanding of the evolution of modern human development and cognition.

Teeth are among the best sources of evidence for both identification purposes and studies of demography, biological relationships, and health in ancient human communities. The anthropologist's specimen may be a cast that a dentist has taken from a living mouth, or actual teeth from an archaeological site or forensic case. This text introduces the complex biology of teeth and provides a practical guide to all essential aspects of dental anthropology, including excavation, identification, microscopic study, and tooth age determination. Dental Anthropology is a concise yet comprehensive resource designed for students and researchers in anthropology and archaeology.

All humans share certain components of tooth structure, but show variation in size and morphology around this shared pattern. This book presents a worldwide synthesis of the global variation in tooth morphology in recent populations. Research has advanced on many fronts since the publication of the first edition, which has become a seminal work on the subject. This revised and updated edition introduces new ideas in dental genetics and ontogeny and summarizes major historical problems addressed by dental morphology. The detailed descriptions of 29 dental variables are fully updated with current data and include details of a new web-based application for using crown and root morphology to evaluate ancestry in forensic cases. A new chapter describes what constitutes a modern human dentition in the context of the hominin fossil record.

Companion to Dental Anthropology presents a collection of original readings addressing all aspects and sub-disciplines of the field of dental anthropology—from its origins and evolution through to the latest scientific research. Represents the most comprehensive coverage of all sub-disciplines of dental anthropology available today Features individual chapters written by experts in their specific area of dental research Includes authors who also present results from their research through case studies or voiced opinions about their work Offers extensive coverage of topics relating to dental evolution, morphometric variation, and pathology

A valuable guide to scoring crown and root traits in human dentitions for ancestry estimation and biodistance analysis.

This follow-up to The Anthropology of Modern Human Teeth puts methods to use in interpreting human origins and affinities.