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by potsandpans 554 days ago
I've read that medieval populations had significant tooth wear due to stone mills depositing stone residue into flour.

Im not sure how this stacks against the time period youre referencing, if it was better or worse.
2 comments
archermarks 554 days ago
Even as far back as ancient Egypt [1]. And they had dentistry too [2]! Any time in history where they milled grains into flour with stone, you can see this pattern. In fact, it can be used to differentiate certain agricultural vs non-agricultural populations in the archaeological record [3].

[1]https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19396207/

[2]https://anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ar.2...

[3]https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16353225/

link
inglor_cz 554 days ago
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3094918/

One of the many articles studying dental health of pre-modern populations.

Yeah, it wasn't great. Human teeth aren't really suitable for a long-lived species that eats a lot of carbs.

link