CORDIS

The VAPP Project will examine prehistoric human population dynamics and microevolution in Portugal through the analysis of dental morphological variation. Variation in external dental morphology (e.g., size, shape, and discrete characteristics) provides reliable data on biological affinity and relatedness within and between human populations, as well as signatures of selection on dental functional morphology related to different diets and masticatory regimes. Advances in non-invasive, virtual imaging technology provide complimentary, high-resolution data on internal dental morphology (e.g., enamel thickness, tissue proportions, enamel dentin junction shape) that address key aspects of dental morphological variation and evolution. Nevertheless, few studies have focused on how internal dental morphology varies among human populations during the Holocene, and only one Homo sapiens dentition from Portugal has been virtually analyzed to date. The prehistory of Late Pleistocene to Mid-Holocene Portugal is characterized by complex environmental, climatic, and demographic changes that significantly altered socioeconomic organization, thus making it an ideal regional case study to address human biocultural evolution through an integrated approach to internal and external dental morphology. The VAPP Project will include Upper Paleolithic humans, the last foraging populations (Mesolithic), early food-producing peoples (Neolithic), and groups associated with the emergence of social complexity and the intensification of food processing (Late Neolithic, Chalcolithic, and Bronze Age). The sampling strategy provides a nuanced perspective on dental microevolution corresponding to changing diets, socioeconomic strategies, and spatiotemporal population dynamics (e.g., migration, integration, and replacement) across crucial transitional periods in Portuguese prehistory. Notably, the VAPP Project will establish the first, open-source, virtual dental anthropology dataset for the region.