La para-fonction dentaire chez les Hommes Anatomiquement Modernes d’Algérie : les exemples pléistocènes et holocènes des régions septentrionales

Abstract

When studying the cranial series of Anatomically Modern Humans from Algeria (Upper Paleolithic, Epipaleolithic, Neolithic) from the perspective of cranio-facial and occlusal morphogenesis, some adult individuals of both sexes presented abrasive wear, especially of the cheek teeth, which did not fit with that resulting from classic physiological mastication. It seemed essential to us to verify the entire dental series from the sites of Algeria since the Upper Paleolithic. Among this set, certain dental series of the Mechta-Afalou Iberomaurusians, the Capsian Proto-Mediterraneans and those of the Mediterranean Neolithic of western Algeria show abrasive wear of the cheek teeth, generally with vestibular and/or lingual obliquity, suggesting a para-function (or para-mastication). We analyzed five individuals, four of which came from the sites of Afalou-Bou-Rhummel, Taza 1, Oued Guettara, and Medjez II. The fifth individual, from the collections of the Bardo National Public Museum in Algiers, does not mention its origin; however, its craniofacial and dental morphology brings it closer to Holocene specimens.