Knowledge from the Margins: W. Montague Cobb's Pioneering Research in Biocultural Anthropology

W. Montague Cobb became the first African American to receive a doctorate in physical anthropology in the United States (1932). He was also among the first U.S. physical anthropologists to demonstrate a commitment to biocultural integration and racial equality in his research. Nonetheless, very few European American physical anthropologists responded to or utilized Cobb's work. This continued after bioanthropology took on a more biocultural focus in the 1980s, some 50 years after Cobb's first studies of this kind. In this essay, I highlight Cobb's research and writing from the first decades of his career to illustrate his contribution to developing biocultural perspectives in physical anthropology. As a result, I hope to move Cobb from the margins to the center of discussions about methodological and theoretical developments in bioanthropology over the past 30 years.     

The Biocultural Context of Very High Fertility among the Bekaa Bedouin

This research report explores some of the biocultural dimensions of maximum or near maximum fertility among Bedouin tribes in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon. The Bedouin case substantiates that very high fertility (completed family size [CFS] greater than 8.0) is found among peripheral peoples in frontier situations generated by major political-economic shifts. While the Bedouin maintained high fertility (CFS > 6.5) for approximately sixty years (1899–1960), very high fertility—linked to greater historical reliance on agriculture—was of shorter duration (1934–60). Comparisons with other very high fertility populations indicate that, at the proximate level, maximum fertility is associated with early weaning, low rates of primary sterility, and high rates of marital stability. Results also point to low subadult mortality in Bedouin society. Low mortality is best attributed to the availability of modern medical care facilities and high-quality weaning foods.     

An analysis of crania from Tell-Duweir using multiple discriminant functions

Historical and archaelogical evidence suggests that the Iron Age biblical city of Lachish had a multinational population of diverse geographical origins. A multivariate analysis of crania, using canonical discriminant functions and metric variables, tends to confirm this. The approach employed stresses that population discriminant analysis studies should be both biologically and statistically legitimate. An ecological interpretation of the data suggests a research design for analyzing the affinities of cranial series. Similarities probably should be assessed in an analytical space containing the widest possible range of variation.     

Brief communication: First evidence of LSAMAT in non-native Americans: Historic Senegalese from West Africa

To date, the distinctive dental wear pattern known as LSAMAT, or “lingual surface attrition of the maxillary anterior teeth,” has been documented in prehistoric samples from Brazil, Panama, and Puerto Rico only. However, new data from a historic Senegalese sample reveals the first example of this wear pattern outside the Americas. The Senegal LSAMAT is present in 45% of 22 adult crania, and is associated with a caries rate of 40% in 38 adults (6.7% of 534 permanent teeth). A correlation between LSAMAT and caries was also observed in the Latin American samples. In these cases, it was hypothesized that LSAMAT was caused by the specialized consumption of an abrasive, high carbohydrate food, such as manioc. Manioc is a common cultigen in Senegal; thus, it may have also caused the African LSAMAT. The chewing of sugar cane could have been an additional, contributing factor. Am J Phys Anthropol 102:141–146, 1997. © 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Implications of Dental Caries in Anatolia: From Hunting–Gathering to the Present

Teeth are considered one of the most informative and durable parts of the skeleton. In Dental Anthropology, they are used to obtain information on culture, health, diet, variability and evolutionary trends in dental morphology as well as development, eruption and dental pathologies in the past and modern populations. In this study, an attempt was made to evaluate the results of dental caries, which is the most common dental disease, in order to document changing patterns of health and diet ranging from the transitional period of hunting–gathering through agriculture to the present day in human history in Anatolia. From the total sample of 400 modern individuals, a total of 5,208 maxillary teeth and 5,153 mandibular teeth were studied. The percentage of the occurrence of dental caries based on the individuals was 77.8%, whereas the frequency of dental caries on tooth type and class was 17.1% (18.0% maxillary decay; 16.2% mandibular decay). A comparative study of the frequency of caries in certain periods indicates the following: in the hunting–gathering period it was 1%–2%, in the Early Neolithic it was 3%–5% (Catal Hoyuk), in the Neolithic (beginning of agriculture) it was 5.6% (Cayonu), in the Chalcolithic it was 11.7% (Norsuntepe), in the Roman period it was 11.1% (Panaztepe), and 16% (Datca), in the Late Byzantine it was 10.9% (Iznik) and in the Medieval it is 14.2% (Arslantepe). These findings contribute to understanding how dietary change and life conditions are interrelated with the changing patterns of dental diseases in Anatolian populations.     

Characteristic high- and low-frequency dental traits in sub-Saharan African populations

In an earlier investigation (Irish [1993] Biological Affinities of Late Pleistocene Through Modern African Aboriginal Populations: The Dental Evidence [Ann Arbor: University Microfilms]), biological affinities of 32 sub-Saharan and North African dental samples were estimated using comparative analyses of 36 dental morphological traits. Marked dental homogeneity was revealed among samples within each of the two geographic regions, but significant interregional differences were noted. Assuming dental phenetic expression approximates or is an estimate of genetic variation, the present study of 976 sub-Saharan-affiliated Africans indicates they are not closely related to other world groups; they are characterized by numerous morphologically complex crown and root traits. Turner ([1984] Acta Anthropogenetica 8:23–78; [1985] in R Kirk and E Szathmary (eds.): Out of Asia: Peopling the Americas and the Pacific [Canberra: The Journal of Pacific History], pp. 31–78; [1990] Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 82:295–318; [1992] Persp. Hum. Biol. 2/Archaeol. Oceania 27:120–127; [1992] in T Akaszawa, K Aoki, and T Kimura (eds.): The Evolution and Dispersal of Modern Humans in Asia [Tokyo: Hokusen-Sha Publishing Co.], pp. 415–438) reports that Northeast Asian/New World sinodonts also have complex teeth relative to Europeans, Southeast Asian sundadonts, Australian/Tasmanians, and Melanesians. However, sinodonty is characterized by UI1 winging, UI1 shoveling, UI1 double shoveling, one-rooted UP1, UM1 enamel extension, M3 agenesis, and three-rooted LM1. Sub-Saharan peoples exhibit very low frequencies of these features. It is proposed that the collection of dental traits which best differentiate sub-Saharan Africans from other worldwide samples includes high frequencies of the Bushman Canine, two-rooted UP1, UM1 Carabelli's trait, three-rooted UM2, LM2 Y-groove pattern, LM1 cusp 7, LP1 Tome's root, two-rooted LM2, UM3 presence, and very low incidences of UI1 double shoveling and UM1 enamel extension. This suite of diagnostic traits is termed the sub-Saharan African dental complex. Am J Phys Anthropol 102:455–467, 1997. © 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.