APPENDIX II CEMENTUM ANNULI SEASONALITY ANALYSIS OF Odocoileus hemionus TEETH FROM TEN SITES ON THE BIG SUR COAST STEVEN A. MOFFITT Cementum annuli analysis was completed on 44 eruption and wear (Lockard 1972:46). Numerous specimens of Odocileus heminous teeth recovered from studies on both wild and domesticated populations eleven sites (CA-MNT-63, -521, -759/H, -1223, -1227, including deer (Gilbert 1966; Lockard 1972; Low and -1228, -1232/H, -1233, -1235, -1277/H, and CA-SLO- Mct.Cowan 1963; Ransom 1966), red deer (Mitchell 267). The deposition of annuli growth and rest bands in 1969), reindeer (Reimers and Nordby 1968), moose the teeth of mammals leaves a permanent record of the (Sergeant and Pimlott 1959), and sheep (Saxon and season of death of the animal that can be exploited by Higham 1969), among others, have clearly established archaeologists. Wildlife managers have long used the correlation between the depositional banding of cementum-annuli analysis to age animals under their cementum annuli in the teeth of known age control care. Biologists studying the Alaskan fur seal samples with the age of the animal at the time of death. (Callorhinus ursinus) and the northern elephant seal Further investigation has determined that the banding is (Mirounga angustirostris) made the initial discovery deposited seasonally. Cementum annuli thin-sections that the roots of mammal teeth have structural observed under transmitted polarized light has properties that correspond with the known ages of confirmed a seasonal growth pattern consisting of animals (Scheffer 1950, Laws 1952). alternating translucent and opaque bands. The outer- Cementum is a calcified tissue incrementally most band indicates the season of death. produced at the distal margin of the tooth throughout The biological basis for this visually distinct dual life. Cells of the dental follicle produce cementum on banding is not precisely understood. Alternate theories the surface of dentine and enamel. As the occlusal have been offered which suggest an environmental or surfaces wear down and the tooth erupts minutely to metabolic influence (Stallibrass 1982), photo- compensate for the wear, cementum is deposited on the periodicity (Pike-Tay 1991), climate (Klevezal and longitudinal areas of displacement, particularly in the Kleinenberg 1969), latitude (Pike-Tay 1991), or the regions of the apex of the root and forks of the roots in quantity and quality of food (Stallibrass 1982). multirooted teeth. Nutrition, which closely relates to environment, and Cementum annuli analsis has been shown to be hormonal changes or sexual cycles may be some of the consistently more accurate in determining the age of metabolic causes of the banding (Stallibrass 1982). mammals than the previously used method of tooth Recent experiments by Lieberman (1993, 1994) on the 278 Appendix II banding effects of diet on goat annuli support a nutri- in cementum analysis due to the clarity and regularity tional/environmental correlation. Seasonal varia-tion of their annuli deposition. For Odocileus hemionus of available forage may impact annuli in several ways. specimens the permanent first incisors provide the most First, a change in band mineralization appears to oc- consistent annuli for seasonality assessments (Matson cur as seasonal nutrition varies. The band may be- 1981; Quintero 1987; Thomas and Bandy 1973). The come hypomineralized as available calicium is reduced analysis of first incisors from modem herds of Odocileus or hypermineralized when reduced nurtition restrains hemionus revealed that 57% of the study sample pro- cementogenesis or impacts the production of Sharpey's duced annuli that closely matched the standardized fibres in the periodontal ligament (Lieberman model (Matson 1993). 1994:528). Second, a seasonal change in available While wildlife biologists established the basis for flora may require differential biomechanical forces for using this method on specific species in specific geo- processing these different food items. Diets that con- graphic/environmental regions, zooarchaeologists tain material which is more difficult for the animal to occassionally followed suit and constructed modem chew and/or which is lower in nutrition may place comparative collections for previously investigated spe- greater stress upon the biological structures used to cies in different environmental regions (Beasley et al. process the food. Lieberman (1993) reported that ce- 1992; Burke and Castanet 1995; Lieberman 1990, 1991; mentum may reflect the higher stress by containing Pike-Tay 1991; Quintero 1987). It is important to use a an increased number of collagen fibre bundles which local comparative collection as the standardized model attach the tooth roots to the periodontal ligament, by for the analysis so that generalized designations such as an increased mineralization as the result of growing spring, summer, and fall can correlate on a scale with more slowly, or by a directional change in the miner- actual months. Such a collection was used for this study alization of Sharpey's fibres at times when occusal along with the scale derived from that collection by forces are increased. Clearly, environment greatly in- Quintero (1987). The set consisted of teeth from 219 fluences the deposition and banding of annuli, whether wild deer killed in 1984 in Los Angeles (5), Riverside directly or indirectly. Although the biological pro- (53), San Bernardino (87), and San Diego (74) coun- cesses behind cementum annuli deposition and band- ties. It was obtained from the State of California, De- ing may not be explicitly known, most researchers partment of Fish and Game, and had been compiled to agree that a comparative standard must be established facilitate their deer herd management programs from a control sample of known age/known season of (Quintero 1987). The scale used for this analysis is a death animals from the same geographical/environ- slight variation of the scale compiled by Thomas and mental area in order to successfully apply this tech- Bundy (1973) for British Columbian deer teeth and nique to age or seasonally date the death of an unknown accomodates the slight differences in environmental sample (Beasley et al. 1992; Burke and Castanet 1995; conditions (Quintero 1987): Gordon 1993; Pike-Tay 1991; Stallibrass 1982). Zooarchaeologists have been quick to capitalize Fall/Winter: Summer band complete, November to on the discovery of seasonal banding and have ex- February. panded its application to archaeological faunal remains Early Spring: Arrest band distinct, March to April. where teeth are often numerous and well preserved Late Spring/Early Summer: Summer band, May (Kay 1974). Archaeological applications of cementum to July. analysis are dependent upon the clarity and regularity Late Summer/Early Fall: Summer band over but of the seasonal deposition pattern. Seasonality esti- not complete, August to October. mates are based upon the last increment deposited on mthe priers upof the tooth inroo. ene yearoced of It is not possible to differentiate growth related pe- the periphery of the tooth root. A one year cycle of cementum deposition leaves two bands on the periph- riods during the winter months, because growth does ery of the tooth root, a narrow dark band deposited not occur after early November and the growth arrest during the non-growth winter season and a wide light annuli are not formed until March. The summer scale band deposited during the summer growth season. The is just the opposite, and is more accurate because the season of death of the animal is determined by esti- rapid growth period is easily augmented into discrete mating the amount of growth that has occurred on the seasonal or three-month increments. last formed band of the tooth root. Since the width of the bands tend to narrow slightly as the animal grows METHODS older, especially the wider light colored growth band, the seasonal calculation for the death of the animal Each sample was assigned a laboratory number prior to can only be reasonably estimated to a period of about processing. In general, the teeth were in good condi- three months (Quintero 1987; Spiess 1976, 1990). tion although only one tooth was encased in bone ma- Specific teeth in each species are favored for use trix, allowing some protection to the root periphery. Prehistoric Human Ecology of the Big Sur Coast 279 tively used in making seasonality estimations. The re- The technique used to expose the annuli on the cur- maining 20% of the specimens (4 teeth) either had incre- rent sample followed the method developed by Bourque mental layers that were indistinct or the root was so dam- et al. (1978) and used by Quintero (1987). It is a modifi- aged that the cementum layers were missing. cation of a technique first reported by Erickson and Seliger (1969) when they attempted to simplify and expediate the process originally developed by Low and Cowan (1963). First, all teeth were encased in a protective resin matrix to hold them securely. Following Bourque et al. (1978) and Quintero (1987), liquid plastic casting resin (Styrene Monomer/Polyester resin) was used, embedding the teeth in incremental layers. The resin was catalyzed and poured in layers over a tooth placed in a mounting cap. Each layer was allowed to set before the addition of the next layer. After the addition of the final layer each mounting cap was placed in a vacuum chamber for 24 hours to remove any bubbles which may have formed during the casting process and to force resin into the pulp cavity. The mounting cap was removed from the vacuum chamber and allowed to dry for another 24 hours. Each cast was then removed from its mounting cap. A Felker lapidary saw with a continuous face diamond blade that was constantly lubricated with a stream of water was used to cut a longitudinal (sagittal) section of each tooth root. Longitudinal sections are preferable to transverse sections because a larger portion of the root structure is exposed. Each cast was cut to expose the lingual-lateral quarter of the root where possible, however, several of the speci- mens were fragments or had broken roots which provided little choice of positioning. Each exposed surface was polished twice. First, with #400 grit on a high speed ro- tating lapidary wet polisher and then with #600 grit on a slow speed wet polisher. The exposed surface was then affixed to a 27 x 40 mm microslide with epoxy and al- lowed to dry for 72 hours. A thin-section approximately 100 microns in width was cut from the section affixed to the slide by using a Hillcrest thin-sectioning saw. The slide thin-section was ground to a width of approximately 30-50 microns. The final reduction was accomplished by using a Hillcrest thin-sectioning machine. RESULTS Each thin-section was examined under 40 to 100 mag- nification using a binocular microscope under transmit- ted light. The analysis was conducted on June 15, 1995 at Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona. Six- teen of the 20 teeth (80%) provided seasonal estimations of death based upon the final incremental layer deposited on the periphery of the tooth root (Table 1). The majority of specimens (13) indicated a late fall or winter death. Three of the teeth indicated a mid-summer death. These specimens had an outer annuli band that was approxi- mately deposited, indicating a June throughAugust death. However, the sample is small and should only be tenta- 280 Appendix II cin~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~- j~ .g,c 0, t ,@ t tg t l ,l .t ,iN @> 3 ,? cl tg .# iM .~ .@ .t .t , I~~~~~~~~~~~"- I-- V-- Wm-a V." "..4 ".4 v" v" 3w wwwm m v~~~~~~~t 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; 0 0 0 , ..4 .4 4) ,.,,I ...4 ).l _ 2 _~~~~2 0 o ~ ~ o C,,~~~~C 6 ~~~~~~ a CD o a o a o o o o o CDO o) a o oCooo CD o a a le lq S- 't 0 I I I I I I I? WI I I I I I I t- in I . - s C) o o o ? o o c o o o o o, o o o o o o o t o, o o o o Wc o ot 0~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ m n W w 0% q* In tn \0 \. ur0 CS o M M ,oo to oo4 N . W) C ^ e~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~t tl, c n c n c n en cn cn m t < >> > > > |; v oo oo o oo oo oo I.X ,,mmmmmo g 0' d X~~~~~~~~~~ I ISS S S S S S a I S S S I 282 Appendix II REFERENCES CITED Lockhard, G. R. 1972 Further Studies of Dental Annuli for Aging Beasley, M. J., W. A. B. 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