Abstract:

In this study the dental dimensions of Resuloğlu (Early Bronze Age) skeletal population were examined odontometrically and compared with other ancient Anatolian skeletal series. The research material was consisted of 1241 permanent teeth excavated from Resuloğlu cemetery located in Uğurludağ, Çorum, Central Anatolia, Turkey. Of 643 teeth belonged to female, and of 501 belonged to male skeletons, and the remaing 97 teeth were identified as isolated. Two measurements, bucco-lingual (BL) width and mesio-distal (MD) length, were taken from each tooth. Based on these measurements, tooth index, total crown area, crown areas for posterior and anterior teeth groups were calculated. The analysis showed that there was no significant difference between right vs left dentitions. The comparisons indicated that the teeth size of Resuloğlu inhabitants was smaller than those of Çayönü (Neolithic), Alacahöyük (Chalcolithic) aand Maşathöyük (Bronze Age), but it was bigger than those of Panaztepe (Middle Bronze Age) and Norşuntepe (Iron Age) populations. As a conclusion, it can be said that the rate of reduction in teeth sizes was relatively slight during the periods of Neolithic, Chalcolithic, and Bronze Age, but it was relatively higher during the periods of Iron Ages and afterwards.