COMPARATIVE ODONTOMETRICS OF PREHISTORIC AMERINDIANS OF CENTRAL AND EASTERN NORTH AMERICA

Mesiodistal measurements of all permanent teeth from a series of ten prehistoric Ohio Amerindian somples (1000 BC–1300 AD) were used in an analysis of odontometric variation. Samples from Ohio were compared to synchronic and allochronic samples from Tennessee, Kentucky and Illinois. Mahalanobis' generalized distance (D2) was computed and principal coordinates analysis used as a clustering techniques to assess biologic relationships. Although a pattern of dental reduction is noted, the results of the study do not consistently support the hypothesis which predicts dental reduction as a concomitant result of a transition from hunting-gathering to horticultural subsistence bases.