Henderson 2007.5


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TEETH, 2nd Edition. By Simon Hillson, 2005. 
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. 
ISBN: 0-521-54549-8

As Hillson himself says, “one of the striking things 
about returning to the text almost 20 years later is how few 
of the fundamentals have in fact changed.” The revised 
and updated edition of his 1986 classic Teeth, however, 
demonstrates that things can be improved upon.  Teeth, in 
the Cambridge Manuals in Archaeology series, provides 
material on field techniques and methodology combined 
with current and relevant archaeological examples. 
Teeth are a very common aspect of the archaeological 
assemblage and can provide extraordinary information 
on the health and diet of paleocommunties, and Hillson 
brings all these aspects together in a comprehensive 
manual on the study of teeth. The improvements and 
updates to this classic are not dramatic, but slight shifts 
in emphasis and description of recent technological 
advances makes this second edition a valuable manual 
for any practitioner of anthropology, paleontology or 
zoology.

The book opens with a lengthy and comprehensive 
description of tooth form in mammals, intended as 
a reference manual for identification of teeth in an 
archaeological context. It is in this section that the bulk 
of the revisions are evident. While the first edition was 
wide-ranging, Hillson has more than doubled the genera 
of mammals described and illustrated from 150 to 325, 
representing the entire Holarctic region. One of the most 
striking changes is the introduction of computer graphics 
for all the illustrations, Teeth has now entered the digital 
age. This was a labor intensive process for Hillson, but the 
resulting illustrations are legible and highly informative. 
The level of detail is impressive, greatly aiding in field 
identification. To offset these additions, Hillson has 
deemphasized human dentition in this edition, setting 
the tone for what is truly a mammalian tooth book. These 
are excellent changes, widening the readership and the 
utility of the book as a field manual. However, with the 
exclusion of reptiles, amphibians and fish from the book, 
many of which have teeth, one could argue that the book 
should be titled Mammal Teeth. For those with interests 
primarily in the human tooth, Hillson’s (1996) Dental 
Anthropology is a wonderful supplemental resource. 

While the remaining chapters of the book are 
not as dramatically restructured as the first, Hillson 
has carefully reviewed his earlier work, updating 
and correcting as necessary. One such example is 
in the “Dental Tissues” section (previously “Dental 
Microstructure”) which now includes a new section 
on the chemistry and physics of dental tissue analysis 
in archaeology. This includes a clear and informative 
description of the uses of isotopic analysis in dietary 
reconstruction that have been developed since the first 
edition came out in 1986 and the role of dentine in DNA 

preservation and analysis. The section has been further 
updated with a new discussion on methods of dental 
development reconstruction in hominids and advances 
in dental preparation techniques including proper use 
of new camera and scanner technology. 

The section on “Teeth and Age” has been updated 
with more recent studies on dental microwear and its 
utility in comparing extant and extinct animal behaviors 
such as diet and life history. This section also includes 
a new discussion on the genetics, development and 
morphology of teeth. The first edition devoted significant 
space to a discussion of tooth size and human evolution. 
This topic has been dramatically edited and abbreviated 
in the second edition. In keeping with Hillson’s current 
emphasis on mammals in general rather than humans 
specifically, discussion of tooth size in human evolution 
is limited to a few paragraphs on dental reduction 
through time.

Even in a field that has not changed significantly 
since its first printing, the previous edition of Teeth is 
out of date, and was in need of revision. Discussion of 
the origin and evolution of teeth would have been a 
nice topic to include. However, in a book intended as 
a practical manual for researchers in many disciplines, 
it is not a glaring omission. As we all discovered in our 
use of the first edition, Hillson’s Teeth is an essential and 
comprehensive reference manual for all archeologists 
and paleontologists. This second edition is an excellent 
update of a reliable and invaluable resource. 

Emily H. Henderson [was Guthrie]
Department of Anthropology
University of Oregon

BOOK REVIEW