A proposito di carie...l'alimentazione nella popolazione etrusca di Spina.

Dental pathology provides information on diet and life style of past human populations. This study reports relationships between caries and alimentary habits of Etruscans, analyzing a sample of 110 subjects from the necropolis of Spina (Ferrara, Italy) (VI-III century.B.C). Caries affected 20% of the individuals, with particular reference to the group 25-35 yrs of age. No significant difference was detected for caries between males and females. Our findings are in agreement with previous studies on Etruscan samples. Nevertheless, lower caries frequencies were reported for other European populations of the same period. The dental caries rate of Etruscans from Spina suggests a greater consumption of carbohydrates than in Northern Europeans in relation to the advanced methods of Etruscans