Bull. nat. Hist. Mm. Land. (Geol.) 58(supp): 23-35 



Issued 26 June 2003 



Human Dental Remains from Gough's Cave 

 (Somerset, England) 



DIANE E. HAWKEY 



Department of Anthropology, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-2402, USA 



Synopsis. The dental remains of nine individuals from Gough's Cave (Cheddar, Somerset) date from Late Pleistocene to the 

 Holocene. Descriptions are provided for all individuals for crown and root morphology, odontometric data, dental pathology 

 (caries, abscess, periodontal disease, enamel hypoplasia), calculus deposition, enamel pressure chipping, occlusal attrition, and 

 evidence of intentional/occupational modification. The analytical focus is on seven individuals who date from the Late Upper 

 Paleolithic/Mesolithic (Creswellian) culture periods. Comparative data from nine world populations suggest five trends: 1) 

 Gough's Cave individuals have a morphologically simplified dental pattern similar to other Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene 

 populations of North Europe, South/Southwest Asia and North Africa. 2) Within Europe, Gough's Cave is consistent in post- 

 Pleistocene trend towards reduction in tooth size. 3) There is a temporal trend in the British Isles towards lateral incisor reduction, 

 while maintaining stable molar tooth size. 4) Pathology, wear, and enamel pressure chipping are consistent with a hunter/gatherer 

 lifeway. with one individual who may have occupationally related microtrauma. 5) No evidence occurs of any cleaning striations 

 ('toothpick groves') as has been suggested for Neanderthals. 



INTRODUCTION 



Little is currently known about the dentition of Late Pleistocene/ 

 Early Holocene inhabitants of the British Isles. Excavations at 

 Gough's Cave (Cheddar Gorge, Somerset) have recovered the dental 

 remains for a minimum number of seven individuals dating to this 

 time range. The remains have been radiocarbon dated to between 

 1 2,380 and 9,080 BP (Hedges et al 1 99 1 ) and include 'Cheddar Man' 

 (Gough's Cave 1 ), the most complete early human skeleton from 

 Britain. Individuals from this time span date to the Upper Late 

 Paleolithic/Mesolithic (Creswellian) culture periods. Dentition from 

 two additional specimens (Gough's Cave 4 and 5) are more recent, 

 dating to the Late Holocene. Gough's Cave 1 , although dating to the 

 Mesolithic time period, was included in analysis of the Upper Late 

 Paleolithic group in order to maximize sample. While the sample is 

 small the assumption is that the available data characterize individu- 

 als from early Gough's Cave. 



The first part of this study describes all dental remains from 

 Gough's Cave. Included are crown and root morphology, odonto- 

 metric data, pathology (caries, abscess, periodontal disease, enamel 

 hypoplasia), calculus deposition, enamel pressure chipping, occlu- 

 sal attrition (wear), cultural treatment and intentional/occupational 

 modification. The latter half of the study focuses specifically on 



the dentition from the Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene and prov- 

 ides a comparative analysis with other early and recent world 

 populations. 



General descriptions of the Gough's Cave skeletal and dental 

 remains have been published elsewhere (Oakley etal\91\\ Tratman 

 1975; Stringer 1985, 1990). This research is part of a larger series of 

 forthcoming articles published in the Bulletin of the Natural History 

 Museum that will present a detailed analysis of the material. 



METHODS AND MATERIALS 



Gough's Cave remains used in this study are currently housed at the 

 Natural History Museum in London and were excavated in 1903, 

 1927-29, and 1986-87 (Davies 1904; Seligman & Parsons 1914; 

 Keith & Cooper 1929; Cooper 1931; Currant et al 1989). Although 

 Humphrey and Stringer (n.d.) argue for a numerically conservative 

 approach, and suggest a minimum number of five individuals for the 

 Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene group, the lack of any clear asso- 

 ciation between the dental elements (especially occlusion and enamel 

 pressure chipping patterns) argues for a minimum number of seven 

 individuals as presented in the current study (Table 1 ). The two more 

 recent specimens (Gough's Cave 4 and 5) date to the Late Holocene. 



Table 1 Gough's Cave specimen numbers, time period, age, sex, number of teeth with morphology data (includes root data and unerupted teeth), and 

 number of teeth with odontometric data. 



Specimen number 



Time period 



Age 



Sex 



;y (n = teeth) 



Metrics (n = 



teeth) 



27 



18 





1 



1 





13 



12 





10 



5 





1 



1 





16 



1 





27 



20 





6 



1 





4 









87-25/87/49 



Late Pleistocene 



Adolescent 



Unknown 



87-103a 





Late Pleistocene 



Adult, mid-old 



Unknown 



87-139 





Late Pleistocene 



Adult, young-mid 



Unknown 



87-253 





Late Pleistocene 



Adult, young-mid 



Male 



89-001 





Late Pleistocene 



Adult, young 



Unknown 



Gough's 



Cave 6 



Late Pleistocene 



Adult, mid-old 



Male 



Gough's 



Cave 1 



Early Holocene 



Adult, young-mid 



Male 



Gough's 



Cave 4 



Late Holocene 



Adolescent 



Unknown 



Gough's 



Cave 5 



Late Holocene 



Adult, mid-old 



Unknown 



Total 



105 



59 



© The Natural History Museum, 2003 



