A Synchronic Comparison of Linear Enamel Hypoplasia from Byzantine Crete

Analyzing human dentition is useful in reconstructing past health patterns. Linear Enamel Hypoplasia (LEH) is a dental trait that tells biological anthropologists about patterns of stress in individuals. LEH are visible horizontal lines on teeth where the enamel stopped growing during a period of stress such as malnutrition or disease. Comparing frequencies of LEH between sites can demonstrate variation in stress episodes. In this study compared dentition from Chryssi to five other Cretan sites all which date to the Byzantine period (6-12th centuries AD). Chryssi had a significantly higher frequency of LEH than four out of the five sites it was compared to. This suggests that Chryssi experienced more or more severe stress episodes than most of the other Cretan populations during the same period. This is possibly due to the socioeconomic status of individuals, in addition to disease and malnutrition. Analyzing LEH tells us how much stress these individuals endured and in what form the stress occurred. Furthermore, it allows biological anthropologists to understand patterns of stress in individuals and whole populations during the Byzantine period