Description: Long 'on' the Tooth: Dental Evidence of Diet addresses human dental macroscopic and microscopic wear, as well as dental disease, as indicators of diet. The book focuses primarily on 350 pre-contact humans from North America dating from approximately 5,500 to 600 years ago. These populations had subsistence strategies ranging from terrestrial foraging to intensive maize agriculture. The study makes intra- and intergroup comparisons to elucidate dietary nuances that are largely beyond the reach of other means of dietary reconstruction. Finally, the book discusses the importance of using multiple dietary indicators in unison in order to provide paleodietary insights.
Brief description: Dr. Schmidt is a biological anthropologist and Eastern Woodlands archeologist. His research interests include dental anthropology, skeletal biology, dietary reconstruction, subsistence, and human-paleofauna interactions. As director of the Indiana Prehistory Laboratory, Dr. Schmidt is active in his field and works to get his students involved in fieldwork and research. He has published in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology, the Journal of Forensic Science, and Indiana Archeology. He is also President of the Indiana Archeology Council. Dr. Schmidt is co-author of The Analysis of Burned Human Remains, Second Edition published by Elsevier.