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ELLIPICAL FOURIER ANALYSIS OF MANDIBULAR FIRST MOLAR OCCLUSAL OUTLINES FROM THE LATE NEOLITHIC OF BELIGUM

Abstract

Nearly 200 karstic caves of the Meuse River basin of Belgium have yielded burial chambers dating from the Late Neolithic period. Since open air sites are few in number these human remains are the only evidence to interpret the life ways of those who repeatedly utilized the caves as burial locations. Most caves preserve five to fifteen individuals, of which many are comingled, although some contain more than 40 individuals of all ages and both sexes. Gnathic remains are particularly well preserved at Hastière Caverne M dated to 4,345 ± 60 years before present (BP), Sclaigneaux (4,110 BP), Bois Madame (~4,000 BP), as well as Maurenne Caverne de la Cave which exhibits variable dates ranging from before Hastière Caverne M to later than Bois Madame. The permanent first mandibular molars from these cave burials (n = 49) were traced using non-landmark smooth tracing methods, and the resulting outlines were binarized and subjected to elliptical Fourier analysis within the program SHAPE v1.3. The resulting amplitudes of the harmonics were reduced using principal components (PC) analysis and the PC scores were subjected to Kruskal-Wallis tests to determine whether the sites differed. Discriminant function analysis was included to provide classification rates as well as canonical scores axes, which were subsequently plotted using 95% confidence ellipses around group centroids to demarcate sites. The Kruskal-Wallis tests showed no significant differences between the sites, and p values ranged from 0.864 to 0.151. Canonical scores axes showed much overlap across sites, although Bois Madame is relatively distinct. The late/final Neolithic dating of Bois Madame and the larger amount of variation in occlusal outline shape from this site could have implications for the peopling of Northern Europe at the brink of the Bronze Age.

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