How has the morphology of the human mandible varied in response to the dietary changes that have occurred in Britain between the Neolithic and post-medieval periods?
Unlike cranial morphology, human mandibular morphology has been found to be influenced primarily by environmental as opposed to genetic factors. Previous research has demonstrated that significant morphological changes have occurred in the mandible during the Agricultural and Industrial Revolutions when widespread dietary changes occurred, and diet became softer. During this time the size of the mandible decreased, and mandible morphology became more gracile. This research however has typically focussed on comparisons between two time periods associated with a large dietary transition. For this reason, it is not known if the reported changes in mandible morphology represent a consistent reduction in mandibular robusticity or rather fluctuation between periods associated with dietary variability. Furthermore, it is unclear how susceptible the mandible is to smaller dietary changes. The aim of this thesis is to investigate how responsive mandible morphology is to the dietary changes that have occurred in Britain from the Neolithic through to the Post-Medieval periods. It is hypothesised that mandible morphology is responsive enough to mechanical stimuli that more minor dietary changes will also result in morphological
Hirst, Cara Stella
How has the morphology of the human mandible varied in response to the dietary changes that have occurred in Britain between the Neolithic and post-medieval periods?. Unlike cranial morphology, human mandibular morphology has been found to be influenced primarily by environmental as opposed to genetic factors. Previous research has demonstrated that significant morphological changes have occurred in the mandible during the Agricultural and Industrial Revolutions when widespread dietary changes occurred, and diet became softer. During this time the size of the mandible decreased, and mandible morphology became more gracile. This research however has typically focussed on comparisons between two time periods associated with a large dietary transition. For this reason, it is not known if the reported changes in mandible morphology represent a consistent reduction in mandibular robusticity or rather fluctuation between periods associated with dietary variability. Furthermore, it is unclear how susceptible the mandible is to smaller dietary changes. The aim of this thesis is to investigate how responsive mandible morphology is to the dietary changes that have occurred in Britain from the Neolithic through to the Post-Medieval periods. It is hypothesised that mandible morphology is responsive enough to mechanical stimuli that more minor dietary changes will also result in morphological
morphology human vary response dietary_change occur britain neolithic post_medieval_period unlike cranial morphology human mandibular morphology find influence primarily environmental opposed genetic factor previous demonstrate significant morphological change_occur agricultural industrial widespread dietary_change occur diet become soft time size decrease morphology become however typically focussed comparison time_period associate large dietary transition reason know report change morphology represent consistent reduction mandibular robusticity rather fluctuation period associate dietary variability furthermore unclear susceptible small dietary_change aim_investigate responsive morphology dietary_change occur britain neolithic post_medieval_period hypothesise morphology responsive enough mechanical stimulus minor dietary_change also morphological