烏山頭遺址出土人骨病理學與牙齒形態學之初步分析

The Pathology and Dental Morphology of Neolithic Burials from the Wu-Shan-Tou Site, Southwestern Taiwan

新石器時代的烏山頭遺址位於西南臺灣、距今約2700年。該遺址於1999年搶救發掘時，出土了35具人骨與4具狗墓葬。而本文的目的即在於初步分析自2009年起，對於當時出土的10具人骨的形態學研究。關節炎乃此10具人骨中，20歲以上個體常見的一種病理現象，而這種情形也多見於其他當代的史前遺址之中。然而，骨髓炎與肺結核的發現則為臺灣新石器時代出土人骨之首例。另外，牙周病、骨折與退化性關節炎也可見於此批出土人骨之中，只是比例皆不高（依次為20%、20%與10%）。於牙齒形態上，大多數的個體可見箕形門齒（含shoveling與double shoveling）及琺瑯質延展（enamel extension）。同時，也可見其中一個體出現Carabelli's cusp（一種多出現於歐洲人的牙齒特徵，於太平洋群島民族出現的比例僅有35-46%）。

Wu-Shan-Tou (WST) is a Neolithic site dated to approximately 2700 B. P. in southwestern Taiwan, where excavation in 1999 revealed 35 human burials and four dog burials. The goal of this paper is to give a preliminary report of ten reconstructed WST human skeletons, based on morphological studies that began in 2009. Generally speaking osteoarthritis was a common disease amongst WST individuals who had reached the age of 20. The presence of osteoarthritis is not surprising as the disease has been noted to afflict a large number of individuals in contemporary sites. However, the identification of osteomyelitis and tuberculosis (TB) is extremely surprising as such diseases have never been identified in Neolithic sites before. Periodontal disease, fracture, and degenerative joint disease were observed among the ten individuals. However, the incidence of these diseases is comparatively low (20%, 20%, and 10%, respectively). In terms of dental morphology, most of the individuals studied have with shoveling, double shoveling and enamel extension. Curiously, Carabelli's cusp is observed in one of the individuals.