Introduction

The ancient Sicilian colony of Himera, inhabited from 648 to 409 B.C, was acknowledged for its trade and later became the site of two epic battles.
The methods of burial at Himera varied in complexity and style. Variety within the burials may indicate a different social class. Social position may impact access to resources.
Individuals with limited resources may be more susceptible to disease and malnutrition, which can cause growth disruptions in enamel, or linear enamel hypoplasia (LEH). Enamel is laid down in layers, or perikymata, during childhood (typically in the first 6 years of life). LEH presents as horizontal lines along the enamel of the teeth when an individual undergoes significant stress.
The magnitude of the LEH lines correlate to longer periods of stress. Aspects of an individual's social position, such as sex, age, burial location, and burial style might influence exposure to physiological stress.

Figure 1 - Map of Sicily

what is linear enamel hypoplasia

Linear Enamel Hypoplasia, commonly known as LEH is the deficiency of enamel thickness resulting from systemic growth disturbances, were used as indicators of previous growth disruptions and stress in a sample.

Figure 3 - Microscopic LEH

Figure 2 - Macroscopic LEH

The human body adds layers of enamel during childhood development these deposits are called “perikymata”. New enamel deposits are added around every 8 days for the first 6 years of life. Linear Enamel Hypoplasia (LEH) is presented when the body undergoes a high stress event or trauma that causes the resources that would normally be directed towards adding layers of enamel to be used to allow the body to recover from stress. This break in enamel deposits causes “lines” to form along the enamel of teeth.

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Figure 4 - Types of LEH

hypothesis

The study asserts that those experiencing long periods of stress during their childhood are more likely to have LEH along the length of their teeth. The study tests the null hypothesis that the canine samples will have similar prevalence of LEH, among all studied parameters, indicating that the parameters such as location, burial style, sex, and age of the citizens did not heavily impact the ratio of stress experienced by both groups. We hypothesize that the prevalence of LEH does not change based on these factors.