| Abstract: |
Investigation of the possibility of tooth abalation at Kh Phanom Di. At KPD, there are a high proportion of individuals with anterior teeth missing in distinctive, mostly symmetrical patterns. The patterns of missing teeth changed over time. In early burials, lateral maxillary incisors were most commonly missing. Two-thirds of the the adults had missing teeth. No signficant difference between the sexes or with age. In later burials, no significant difference with age but females had more missing teeth than males. Tayles suggest abalation, although the loss of mandibular incisors in some early burials may be as a result of industrial use of the teeth. The abalation of maxillary lateral incisors, found in the early burials, has been recorded at another prehistoric site at Ban Kao and in southern China. The greater frequency of females in the later burials, in addition to distinctive grave goods, may suggest that the society was matrilocal, that the skill of the women in providing pots for use as trade goods was so important to the survival of the community that women remained in the community and men were brought in from outside as marriage partners (Higham and Thosarat (1993). Assuming that the pattern of abalation was specific to a family, the sharing of patterns between females in adjacent burials could indicate that the owmen were related perhaps as mother-daughter or sisters.
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