Analysis of skeletal remains from Roonka, South Australia • 155 



Figure 12. Horizontal abrasion of crowns of all teeth in 

 maxilla with secondary dentine. Note concavities of surface 

 of tooth crowns. Tomb No. 50. Roonka. Male, mature- 

 senile. 



Figure 13. High-grade attrition of crowns of all teeth in 

 maxilla with open root cavities of some teeth. Helicoidal 

 form of attrition. Tomb No. 61, Roonka. Male, senile. 



Genetically minded dental specialists explain it by indepen- 

 dently inherited tooth size (broad teeth) and independently 

 inherited mandible size (narrow mandibles). This phenome- 

 non discovered in the Roonka population may contribute to 

 discussions on the yet unknown origin of Aboriginals in 

 Australia. It would mean that more than one strain of people 

 were present in their ancestry — apparently a gracile and a 

 robust type. 



CULTURE 



Culture has many facets. It is responsible for the behavior of 

 the people, and to a certain extent it influences also their 

 bodies. In the Roonka population the following features may 

 be viewed as a sequence of cultural influences: deep abrasion 

 of the crowns of the teeth (horizontal, helicoidal, interproxi- 

 mal) (Figures 12-15), ritual evulsion of one or two upper 

 central incisors (Figure 16), and ear exostosis (thickening of 

 the external auditory canal bone), explained by otolaryngolo- 

 gists as a reaction of the bone (periosteum) to cold tempera- 

 ture and frequently found in swimmers and divers (Hrdlicka 

 1935). It has been found in male skulls only (Figure 17). 



According to Campbell (1925), the habit of ritual tooth 

 evulsion existed only in North and Central Australia (Figure 

 16). Roonka revealed that this ritual was practiced also in the 

 south of the continent for thousands of years. Skulls with 

 evulsed central incisors were found even in the oldest graves 

 (Campbell and Prokopec 1984). 



Roonka showed that before Europeans came, the people 

 were probably completely free from caries. This does not 

 mean that they did not suffer from other gingival and dental 

 diseases and discomforts. The principal problems were due 

 to extensive abrasion of crowns. Despite the formation of 

 secondary dentine which developed in the abraded parts of 



Zagreb Paleiipalhiilofiy Symp lyXH 



the crowns (Figure 18), deep abrasion led in some instances 

 to penetration into the tooth cavity. As a rule bacterial infec- 

 tion followed and led to periapical inflammations and ab- 

 scesses (Figure 19). 



Food preparation over an open fire (during which ashes 

 and sand inevitably got into the food) is probably the main 

 reason for tooth abrasion. The habit of chewing herbs and 

 leaves of alkaloid-containing plants mixed with ashes as well 

 as the presumed habit of rubbing teeth of the lower jaw 

 against those of the upper jaw in the absence of food could 

 also hasten the process of tooth abrasion. 



Another important agent which leads to dental deteriora- 

 tion is using teeth as tools in manufacturing weapons and 

 otherobjectsofdaily use (Figure 15). Even stone implements 

 were sometimes retouched by teeth according to Barrett 

 (pers. comm.) (Prokopec 1979). 



RECONSTRUCTION OF FACE FROM SKULL 



A drawing or photograph of a skull may serve as a basis for 

 two-dimensional face reconstruction using the method of 

 Galina Lebedinskaya. In order to reconstruct the face prop- 

 erly, the skull should be intact and complete, in particular 

 with respect to the preservation of the nasal bones and the 

 anterior nasal spine (Sj0vold 1981). Any method of facial 

 reconstruction is always associated with some inaccuracy. It 

 is important to make allowances and adjustments for age of 

 the person in question. A method of supcrprojection of a 

 photograph of a man or woman belonging to the same popu- 

 lation over a skull may show the probable appearance of the 

 dead person. This is only the ca.se when the skull and photo- 

 graph match satisfactorily in a .scries of well-identified an- 

 thropometrical points on the skull and face and in a series of 

 facial features and contours (Prokopec 1987). Photographs of 



