Densities of Modern and Fossil Dental Tissues: Significance to ESR Dating of Tooth Enamel

Abstract

We measured the density of enamel, dentine and cementum from teeth that range in age from 0-450 ka. We found that the density of denting and cementum is significantly higher in samples of Palaeolithic age or older relative to young archaeological teeth and modern teeth from an abbatoir. These density changes occur withing the first 50,000 years of burial. This density change is important for nex calculations of beta attunation in tooth enamel based on One-Group Theory, which requires density input data in order to calculate energy transport across interfaces between enamel and adjacent sediment cementum or dentine. Enamel densities were unchanged over the time interval between 0 and 450 ka.