Comparative Archaeology Database, University of Pittsburgh
URL: http://www.cadb.pitt.edu
Email: cadb@pitt.edu

El Venado Dataset
Ana María Boada Rivas

Human Teeth

The data files TEETH.TXT and TEETH.XLS contain data on human teeth from excavations at El Venado. TEETH.TXT is an ASCII text file; TEETH.XLS contains the same data in the form of an Excel spreadsheet. Each line represents one skeleton. There are 38 lines in the text file, each with 19 variables separated by commas. The variables are, in the following order:

1 Skeleton number
2 Tomb number
3 Barrio within the settlement (Chavez=Chávez; Esmer=Esmeralda; EsmerNW=Esmeralda Northwest; Abejas=Abejas; Rubi=Rubí; SanAnt=San Antonio)
4 Residential unit designation
5 Chronological period designation (COL=Colonial; EM=Early Muisca; LH=Late Herrara; LM=Late Muisca; NOID=Not identified; PREC=Preceramic; REP=Republican; REVU=Mixed)
6 Sex (F=Female; M=Male; blank=Indeterminate)
7 Age at death (0=1-4 years; 1=5-9; 3=10-14; 4=15-19; 5=20-24; 6=25-29; 7=30-34; 8=35-39; 9=40-44; 10=45-49; 11=50+; A=Adult; blank=Missing data)
8 Total number of teeth observed
9 Number of teeth lost ante mortem
10 Number of teeth lost post mortem
11 Number of impacted teeth
12 Number of unformed teeth (e.g., third molar)
13 Number of deciduous teeth with caries
14 Number of permanent teeth with caries
15 Number of observed periapical lesions
16 Number of enamel hypoplasias
17 Total number of observed caries
18 Expected number of teeth to be present
19 Mean age in years of individual based on several aging criteria, as explained in Chapter 2

The first line of the ASCII text file, for example, looks like this:

01,1,Chavez,,LH,,Adulto,,,,,,,,,,,,,

This indicates that the teeth came from Skeleton 1 in Tomb 1, located in the Chavez barrio of the settlement. The tomb has not been assigned to any residential unit. It dates to the Late Herrera period. The sex of the individual was not determined; it was an adult. There is no data for the number of teeth observed; or for the number of teeth lost ante mortem or post mortem; or for the number of impacted teeth or unformed teeth; or for the number of caries in either deciduous or permanent teeth; or for the number of periapical lesions, enamel hypoplasias, or observed caries; of for the number of teeth expected to be present. There is also no data for the mean age in years of the individual.

The last (38th) line of the ASCII text file is:

36,36,Esmer,EM13,EM,F,9,22,3,7,0,0,,14,3,8,14,32,42.2

This indicates that the teeth came from Skeleton 36 in Tomb 36 in the Esmeraldas barrio of the settlement. The tomb was assigned to residential unit EM13 pertaining to the Early Muisca period. The individual was female, between 40 and 44 years of age at death. There were 22 teeth with the same characteristics. Three teeth were lost ante mortem and 7 post mortem. No teeth were included, and there were no unformed teeth. There is no data about caries in deciduous teeth, and 14 caries in permanent teeth. Three periapical lesions were observed, and 8 enamel hypoplasias. The total number of caries was 14. Thirty-two teeth were expected to be present. The mean age of the individual in years was 42.2.

Click here to download the file TEETH.TXT (2 KB) or the file TEETH.XLS (35 KB).


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