山西陶寺遗址出土人骨的病理和创伤

Paleopathological Lesions and Osteological Wounds of Human Bone from the Taosi Site,Shanxi Province

本文对陶寺文化中晚期部分墓葬和灰坑中出土的人骨的牙齿病理和头骨创伤进行了观察。病理观察项目包括龋齿、牙周病、牙齿釉质发育不全三个指标,还对稳定同位素15N数据进行了再分析。研究结果指出,牙齿的龋齿率处于较低水平,其原因可能有两个方面,一是调查人群的平均年龄相当低;二是与陶寺人群的饮食中有一定比例的肉食量有关。这一认识得到陶寺早期人群牙齿磨耗速率的研究和对稳定同位素δ15N数据的再分析的支持。另外,牙周病的调查结果显示墓葬和灰坑人骨半数以上个体都有牙周病。牙齿釉质发育不全的调查显示,约三分之一的陶寺人群在其儿童生长发育过程中受到机体代谢压力的影响,如常患感染性疾病、发烧或营养失调等。灰坑再现的乱骨现象以及头骨片上多见的创缘和裂缝反映出人群之间的暴力色彩,折射出陶寺社会矛盾的激化和动荡。

This study describes the dental pathology and wounds of human bones unearthed from tombs and ash pits dating to the middle to late periods of the Taosi culture.The pathologies include dental caries,periodontal disease and enamel hypoplasia.This research shows that there might be two causes for the lower ratio of dental caries,either from the low average age of the analyzed bones or based on the proportion of meat in the diet.This result is confirmed by studies of dental abrasion rates as well as the re-analysis of stable isotope 15N data.In addition,this work reveals that more than half of the tomb bones had periodontal disease and about a third of the Taosi people were affected by metabolic stresses such as infectious diseases,fever and malnutrition during development from childhood.These bone disorders and crevices often seen on the skull fragments also suggest violent tendencies of the Taosi people,possibly from turbulent and conflict-intense periods in Taosi history.