Evidence that metallic proxies are unsuitable for assessing the mechanics of microwear formation and a new theory of the meaning of microwear.

ABSTRACT: Mammalian tooth wear research reveals contrasting patterns seemingly linked to diet: irregularly pitted enamel surfaces, possibly from consuming hard seeds, versus roughly aligned linearly grooved surfaces, associated with eating tough leaves. These patterns are important for assigning diet to fossils, including hominins. However, experiments establishing conditions necessary for such damage challenge this paradigm. Lucas et al. (Lucas et al. 2013 J. R. Soc. Interface10, 20120923. (doi:10.1098/rsif.2012.0923)) slid natural objects against enamel, concluding anything less hard than enamel would rub, not abrade, its surface (producing no immediate wear). This category includes all organic plant matter. Particles harder than enamel, with sufficiently angular surfac

SUBMITTER: van Casteren A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5990759 | biostudies-literature | 2018 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature