The children from valdavara cave (Becerreá, lugo): A morphological, pathological and dental microwear analyses

This article presents a holistic analysis of the dental remains belonging to three children from the Bronze Age site of Valdavara Cave (Becerréa, Lugo), through different methodological approaches, such as dental microwear, external and internal anatomical study, and the analysis of pathologies. The aim of this study is to obtain a comprehensive perspective of the biocultural factors (oral health, diet, food processing...) that affected the life of these individuals. The results show a good oral health in the three individuals, being remarkable the presence of dental agenesis on the individual III, identified by the analysis with cone beam computed tomography (CBCT). Finally, dental microwear patterns on the buccal surface reveal a high abrasiveness of the diet, possibly due to a scarce processing of the food.