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Farming and animal husbandry originated in the Near East and were introduced into Iberia by migrating populations no later than 5500 BCE. This introduction caused profound changes in the economy, settlement patterns, ideology, diet, and biology (including gene pool, health, and morphology) of the Iberian populations. To date, little research has been devoted to the impact of this transition on mandibular morphology, which is regrettable since it is impacted by population history and diet.
We examined the impact of this transition by comparing Mesolithic, Neolithic, and Chalcolithic mandibles from western Iberia. We also included a late 5th to mid-4th millennium BCE Chalcolithic sample from the Southern Levant to examine the relationship between the Iberian samples and a Near Eastern population that had a well-developed agro-pastoralist subsistence base. To this end, we digitized the specimens and examined morphology using Geometric Morphometric methods. Dental wear was scored using the scale developed by Smith (1984). Based on previous aDNA studies and the relationship between mandibular form and population history, we expected significant differences between the Iberian Mesolithic and the Southern Levant samples and that the post-Mesolithic Iberian samples would be intermediate between these two.
As predicted, the Iberian post-Mesolithic Iberian specimens are morphologically intermediate between the significantly different Mesolithic Iberian and Chalcolithic Southern Levant mandibles. Dental wear is generally comparable between Mesolithic Iberia and the Chalcolithic Levant, and most different when compared to post-Mesolithic Iberians. Altogether, our results are consistent with greater impact of population history on morphology rather than masticatory mechanics.

EAA 2023: Abstract

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