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by AlotOfReading 2130 days ago
Modern hunter-gatherers are generally not considered representative of our ancient ancestors. I can go into more detail if anyone's curious, but the short version is that they've had just as long to "evolve" as we have and the extant groups are those that were able to live in very marginal environments where no one else could, among other things.

Of course there's debate both ways and lots of people trying to tease out the parts that are representative, but it's unsettled enough that I recommend just thinking of them as wholly unrepresentative.
2 comments
monadic2 2130 days ago
I'd take some reading recommendations if you have any.
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AlotOfReading 2130 days ago
The best that I'm aware of is Kelly's Lifeways of Hunter-Gatherers. It's a direct attack on this particular myth with lots of examples, literature surveys, and everything else you'd expect. However it's targeted at archaeologists and other social-science types and may be difficult reading without that background. I don't know of any lay-person accessible materials on this.

[1] https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139176132

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monadic2 2130 days ago
This is perfect, thanks!
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ip26 2130 days ago
Whether or not they are representative, I thought they generally have been observed to have perfect teeth?

(Except for the ones foraging a lot of honey)

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AlotOfReading 2130 days ago
A lot of foragers feast extensively on honey and other wild sugars. The Hadza mentioned in a sister comment are one such group and the males have a higher proportion of tooth decay than the females (with little access to honey). Additionally, some groups like the Mbuti practice dental modification that can severely impact tooth health, particularly in older people.

What I wasn't sure about was (A) whether craniofacial morphology changes with diet/economic mode and (B) whether that transition is also associated with disorders. I'm not remotely qualified to evaluate the latter, but the former is apparently true. A quick spin through Google pulled up a bunch of well-known papers I've encountered before that pointed it out. Must have just forgotten that detail.

[1] https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2006.01.004

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nomoreservices 2130 days ago
Look up "Hadza people" on YouTube. They don't seem to have perfect teeth.

Not sure how representative they are (in this aspect) of hunter-gatherers these days though.

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