Archaeology Café, Season 2, Number 2
October 6, 2009
James Watson, Assistant Curator of Bioarchaeology, Arizona State Museum
Deserts, Diets, and Dentition: How the Introduction of Agriculture Affected Ancient Oral Health
As a bioarchaeologist, Dr. Watson examines health and disease in prehistoric populations through their skeletal remains. His work focuses in understanding prehistoric human adaptations in desert ecosystems and the role that local resources play in the adoption of agriculture—as well as the impact of these resources on oral health. Jim contrasted his current research projects, which examine oral health among the earliest farmers in the Sonoran Desert, and among incipient agriculturalists in the Atacama Desert along the northern coast of Chile.