Accessible and engaging, this is the definitive textbook on using teeth to study the demography and ways of life in ancient human communities. Based on extensive laboratory and field experience, this new edition combines archaeological approaches with new technologies and methodologies, covering the key advances in anatomy, forensics, 3D imaging, stable isotopes, and proteomics. Hillson provides a biological context for teeth, a guide on key skills, an introduction to current debates, and advice for the excavation, conservation and recording of dental remains. He also showcases the microscopic structure of dental tissues alongside methods of age-determination. Discover solutions to problems such as identifying worn, fragmentary human teeth or understanding their condition. This is the ideal reference for advanced courses in anthropology or archaeology, and for everyone interested in dental remains from archaeological sites, museum collections or forensic cases. Online teaching resources include videos of lectures and practicals.

This guide is designed as an introduction to the basic methods for identifying mammal bones and teeth. It is intended to highlight for beginners the main points on which identifications can be made on the bulk of bones and teeth from a small range of common Old World mammals.

This guide is designed as an introduction to the basic methods for identifying mammal bones and teeth. It is intended to highlight for beginners the main points on which identifications can be made on the bulk of bones and teeth from a small range of common Old World mammals.

Human children grow at a uniquely slow pace by comparison with other mammals. When and where did this schedule evolve? Have technological advances, farming and cities had any effect upon it? Addressing these and other key questions in palaeoanthropology and bioarchaeology, Simon Hillson examines the unique role of teeth in preserving detailed microscopic records of development throughout childhood and into adulthood. The text critically reviews theory, assumptions, methods and literature, providing the dental histology background to anthropological studies of both growth rate and growth disruption. Chapters also examine existing studies of growth rate in the context of human evolution and primate development more generally, together with implications for life history. The final chapters consider how defects in the tooth development sequence shed light on the consequences of biological and social transitions, contributing to our understanding of the evolution of modern human development and cognition.

Archaeological discoveries of teeth provide remarkable information on humans, animals and the health, hygiene and diet of ancient communities. In this fully revised and updated 2005 edition of his seminal text, Simon Hillson draws together a mass of material from archaeology, anthropology and related disciplines to provide a comprehensive manual on the study of teeth. The range of mammals examined has been extended to include descriptions and line drawings for 325 mammal genera from Europe, North Africa, western, central and northeastern Asia, and North America. The book also introduces dental anatomy and the microscopic structure of dental tissues, explores how the age or season of death is estimated and looks at variations in tooth size and shape. With its detailed descriptions of the techniques and equipment used and its provision of tables and charts, this book is essential reading for students of archaeology, zoology and dental science.