Eades and Desideri 2002.3


52 53

Non-metric traits have been studied at our 
Department since the beginning of the 1990’s,1 when 
two studies were carried out concerning intra- and 
interpopulational analysis of cranial non-metric traits, 
under the direction of Dr. Christian Simon (Gemmerich, 
1999; Eades, 1996; Eades and Simon, 1996). In 1997, S. 
Eades became interested in dental non-metric traits 
during her preparation of a Master’s degree at the 
University of Bradford, England (Eades, 1997). On her 
return to the University of Geneva in 1998, she undertook 
a doctoral thesis2 on these traits, bearing on their familial 
determination (or familiality) and the calculation of 
interindividual distances. At the same time, J. Desideri 
began her graduate work on an interpopulational 
comparison of Swiss Neolithic populations based 
on their dental morphology (Desideri, 2001).3 She is 
currently undertaking a doctoral thesis4 on the same 
problematic, but on a wider, European scale. 

The traits recorded at our Laboratory of 
Paleoanthropology include those of the ASU system 
(using the reference casts; Turner, Nichol and Scott, 
1991), those of Freiburg University (Alt, 1997; Alt, Pichler 
and Vach, unpublished data), when they did not overlap 
with those of the American system, and a few traits 
defined by Moskona et al. (1997), Kraus and Furr (1953) 
and Ludwig (1957). 

INTERPOPULATION ANALYSIS  

The first author (S. Eades) is examining the dental 
non-metric traits of a recent skeletal sample, namely, the 
Burlington collection (Toronto, Canada). The dental casts 
making up this sample were taken from several hundred 
families living in Burlington between 1952 and 1971 
(Popovich, 1956). The goal of her thesis is to identify the 
traits expressing the greatest familiality and to use these 
traits for univariate and multivariate interindividual 
comparisons.

Dental traits are studied by two fields of research: 
genetics (for the determination of their mode of 

Dental Anthropology at the University of Geneva
Suzanne Eades* and Jocelyne Desideri

Department of Anthropology and Ecology, Laboratory of Paleoanthropology, University of Geneva

*Correspondence to: Suzanne Eades, Department 
of Anthropology and Ecology, Laboratory of 
Paleoanthropology, University of Geneva, 12 rue 
Gustave-Revilliod, 1227 Carouge, Geneva, Switzerland.  
Email:  Suzanne.Eades@anthro.unige.ch

ABSTRACT  This article presents research currently 
being conducted in the field of dental anthropology at 
the Department of Anthropology and Ecology of the 
University of Geneva, Switzerland. The first author, S. 
Eades, is carrying out a doctoral thesis on the familiality 
of dental morphological traits and their use as “familial” 
indicators in the case of multivariate and univariate 
analyses of interindividual distances. Her methods are 
based on the modern collection of Burlington (Ontario), 

and her results shall be applied to the Protohistorical 
necropolis of Kerma (Sudan) and the Neolithic 
multiple graves of Chamblandes (Switzerland). The 
second author, J. Desideri, began her graduate work 
on an interpopulational comparison of Swiss Neolithic 
populations based on their dental morphology. She is 
currently undertaking a doctoral thesis on the same 
problem, but tackling the whole of Europe.

inheritance and their heritability), and archeology 
(for the application of these results when comparing 
ancient populations or individuals).

The link between the genotype and the phenotype 
of dental traits appears stronger than for other possibly 
inherited morphological variants such as non-metric 
traits of the cranial and post-cranial skeleton. Different 
studies have shown that there is a strong genetic 
component in the distribution of at least some dental 
characters, since there is a higher concordance between 
monozygotic twins than between dizygotic twins 
(Biggerstaff, 1973, 1979; Berry, 1978; Scott and Potter, 
1984; Kaul et al., 1985; Townsend et al., 1988, 1992). 
Given this strong genetic determination, two types of 
studies have been carried out: the search for the mode 
of inheritance of these traits, and the calculation of their 
heritability. We shall see that these approaches did not 
give forth the results that were hoped for initially.

At first, researchers looked for a simple, Mendelian, 
mode of inheritance (see for instance Kraus, 1951). 
Deviations from this model were explained by 
incomplete penetrance and/or variable expressivity. 
During a second phase, a multifactorial, or polygenic 
inheritance was proposed (Sofaer, 1970; Goose and 
Lee, 1971; Lee and Goose, 1972), based on the model 
of quasi-continuous variation developed by Falconer 
(1960, 1965). Finally, the advent of computers led to 
the development of new techniques named complex 
segregation analyses, which test for the presence of 
major genes within polygenic systems. These were 
applied to dental non-metric traits by Kolakowski et 
al. (1980) on Carabelli’s trait, and by Nichol (1989, 
1990) on a number of dental traits. In many cases, 



52 53

inheritance was found to be polygenic, but influenced 
by a major gene. As the mode of inheritance could 
not be established with certainty for several traits, the 
necessity for more advanced methods of segregation 
was perceived.

As for the calculation of heritabilities, a wide 
range of figures has been obtained on different traits 
(see Scott and Turner, 1997, for a summary). The 
degree of heritability of a trait is the portion of total 
variance that is due to genetic variance, as opposed to 
environmental variance. It does not tell us what portion 
of an individual’s phenotype can be associated with 
its heredity or its environment (Falconer, 1960, 1965). 
Furthermore, it is chrono-specific, population-specific, 
and requires a polygenic mode of inheritance, which, as 
we have seen, is not always the case for dental traits. 

All these studies have demonstrated that dental 
traits are genetically determined, whatever the degree 
of this determination or the mode of inheritance, 
making them appropriate for infra-population analyses 
in an archaeological context. These analyses (which are 
also often based on other types of non-metric traits) are 
of three types: 
• The study of residence patterns (see for instance Lane, 

1977; Lane and Sublett, 1972; Spence, 1974a,b),
• The development of microchronologies in an 

archeological context (see Konigsberg, 1986, 1987, 
1990; Crubézy, 1991),

• The identification of related individuals or lineages. 
The last type of study is the subject of S. Eades’ 

doctoral thesis. Although such studies have been 
carried out before (see for instance Alt, 1997, Alt et al., 
1995, 1997; Crubézy, 1991; Howell et al., 1996; Corrucini 
and Shimada, 2002), they have rarely been based on 
individuals of known parentage (but see Eades, 1997 
and Gemmerich, 1999). Based on data recorded on 
the Burlington collection (parents and children), S. 
Eades has estimated the familiality of 107 dental traits 
derived from concordance analysis (Ludwig, 1957). 
Those traits which were the most concordant in their 
expression within families, as well as their most useful 
format for such purposes (dichotomous, graded or 
dichotomized), were identified. Different univariate 
and multivariate analyses were carried out on these 
traits and on a selection of families with well-preserved 
dentitions. The multivariate analyses in particular gave 
forth some very encouraging results, which she would 
like to publish by next year. Their application in the 
field of skeletal archeology seems possible; obviously, 
dental morphological traits are not as powerful as DNA 
analysis, but it seems that in the case of clear groupings 
of graves or individuals (that is, when the presence of 
family units is suspected) over a restricted timespan, it 
is possible to indicate whether specific individuals are 
related or not. 

S. Eades is currently applying these methods to the 
Neolithic necropolis of Kerma (Sudan, Bonnet, 1990, 

2000), where it is suspected that the multiple burials 
with sacrificed individuals represent genetically linked 
family members. She shall also study multiple burials 
in stone cists from the Swiss Neolithic necropolis of 
Chamblandes (Moinat and Simon, 1986). 

INTRAPOPULATION ANALYSIS

The second author (J. Desideri) is studying the Bell 
Beaker phenomenon. This period is primarily known 
as a pottery style found over most of Europe at the 
end of the Neolithic. This entity differs from previous 
archaeological cultures by its material culture, its 
funerary rituals and its diffusion processes. The Bell 
Beaker Culture has been studied extensively,5 and 
research based on its associated artifacts has indicated 
either continuity or rupture in the peopling. However, 
there have been very few studies of the physical 
anthropology of the individuals making up this 
civilization.

The biometrician R. Menk (1979, 1981) proposed a 
synthesis of the Bell Beaker complex on an European 
scale, based on multivariate craniometric methods. 
He tried to isolate the morphological characteristics of 
these individuals in order to demonstrate the existence 
of a Bell Beaker “humanity” associated with its various 
cultural expressions and to deduce its origins and 
impact in different regions of Europe. According to 
Menk, this Bell Beaker “humanity” possessed a very 
different morphology to that of the local substrate. In the 
nuclear zone (central Germany, Moravia, Bohemia and 
Poland), the morphology is homogeneous; however, in 
peripheral areas, the Bell Beaker physical type becomes 
minoritarian and decreases as a function of the distance 
from the central zone. 

J. Desideri’s interest during her graduate 
work (Desideri, 2001) was to clarify the biological 
relationships between the local, Middle and Late 
Neolithic populations, and the later, culturally 
dissimilar Bell Beaker populations in Western 
Switzerland, by studying dental non-metric traits. She 
studied ten samples dating from the Middle Neolithic 
to the Early Bronze Age (Table 1). Craniometric analyses 
(Menk, 1979, 1981) and the evolution of funerary rituals 
(Bocksberger, 1976, 1978; Gallay, 1978, 1998) both 
pointed to a major event taking place around 2600 BC 
with the arrival of the Bell Beaker Culture in Western 
Switzerland. At this time, Late Neolithic dolmens were 
emptied and Bell Beaker remains were deposited in their 
place (M VI dolmen), furthermore, a new type of cist 
inhumation appeared (M XI dolmen). Dental traits were 
particularly appropriate to this purpose, as the crania 
recovered in the different dolmens are particularly 
fragmented, making for low sample numbers and 
insufficient population representation. In total, only five 
skulls could be measured; they were very different in 
their morphology from those preceding and following 
them chronologically, giving credence to population 

DENTAL ANTHROPOLOGY AT GENEVA



54 55S. EADES AND J. DESIDERI

movement theories. 
The analyses, based on 61 uncorrelated traits 

after preliminary standard manipulations,6 made it 
possible to draw a picture of the different populations, 
and particularly the circumstances which led to the 
emergence of the Bell Beaker Culture in Western 
Switzerland.

During the Neolithic, the populations are 
homogeneous and morphologically similar, without 
major external influences. This is not the case for the 
Bell Beaker Culture, as these populations are not only 
very different from the preceding populations, but also 
from one another. As for the Bronze Age, two situations 
co-exist: some groups possess a Neolithic morphology, 
whereas others are clearly different from the anterior 
groups. 

The analyses (multidimensional scaling and 
hierarchical cluster analysis) based on the Late Neolithic 
and Bell Beaker groups made it possible to propose 
three interpretative models which could explain the 
differences encountered during the Bell Beaker Culture 

(Fig. 1). The models are based on the fact that the Bell 
Beaker dental remains were very different from those of 
preceding populations. 
• The arrival of individuals from another population 

in Western Switzerland is possible. They may have 
completely replaced the preceding populations or, 
on the other hand, have been integrated into the local 
communities. These individuals may have belonged to 
two different groups, as the two Bell Beaker dolmens 
are quite distant from one another on these figures. 

• It is possible that the new funerary rituals practiced 
by the members of this group may have played a 
major role, as Bell Beaker burials inside dolmens were 
restricted to a dozen individuals, whereas earlier 
necropoli (cist graves or similar dolmens) contained 
between 40 and 100 individuals. We may be looking at 
frequencies of a subset of the total population at this 
time (such as members of a single family or a social 
elite), and not population frequencies sensu stricto. 

• The two preceding models are not exclusive. It is 
possible that these remains represent a subset of the 

TABLE 1. Presentation of the ten samples studied by J. Desideri for her graduate work (Desideri, 2001)

Dating Site Type of inhumation Number of burials References

Middle 
Neolithic : 4500-

3200 BC

Barmaz I  
(canton of Valais) Chamblandes-type 

cist, mostly single 
burials

41 graves,
49 subjects

Sauter, 1949, 1950, 1951; 
Honegger, 1996

Barmaz II 
(canton of Valais) 21 graves,22 subjects Sauter, 1949, 1950, 1951

Chamblandes 
(canton of Vaud) Chamblandes-type 

cist, mostly collective 
burials

70 graves,
116 subjects Moinat and Simon, 1986

Corseaux 
(canton of Vaud) 27 graves,60 subjects

Kramar et al., 1978; Baudais 
and Kramar, 1990

Late Neolithic :
3200-2600 BC

Dolmen M XII
Sion Petit-Chasseur 
(canton of Valais) Triangular-based 

dolmens

About 80 
subjects

Favre and Mottet, 1990, 
1995; Eades, 1996

Dolmen M VI
Sion Petit-Chasseur
(canton of  Valais)

About 40 
subjects

Kramar, 1977; Gallay, 1986; 
Gallay and Chaix, 1984; 
Bocksberger, 1976, 1978

Bell Beaker 
Culture :

2600-2200 BC

Dolmen M VI
Sion Petit-Chasseur 
(canton of Valais)

Triangular-based 
dolmens

About 10 
subjects

Kramar, 1977; Gallay, 1986; 
Gallay and Chaix, 1984; 
Bocksberger, 1976, 1978

Dolmen M XI
Sion Petit-Chasseur
 (canton of Valais)

Lateral-entry 
dolmens

About 10 
subjects

Gallay, 1986; Gallay and 
Chaix, 1984; Bocksberger, 
1976, 1978; Claivaz-
Caruzzo, 1975

Early Bronze 
Age :

2200-1550 BC

Sion Petit-Chasseur
 (canton of Valais)

Peripheral cists and 
graves About 10 subjects Bocksberger, 1976, 1978

Barmaz I 
(canton of Valais)

Single graves About 15 
subjects Honegger, 1996



54 55

total population, including some individuals of foreign 
extraction, having arrived in Western Switzerland for 
trade or as specialized craftworkers, and having been 
integrated into the community. This would explain 
the extent of the morphological differences as well as 
the re-use of the Late Neolithic dolmens during the 
Bell Beaker period and the adoption of a new material 
culture around this time. 

In summary, clear-cut differences were detected 
between Middle Neolithic and Bell Beaker dental 
remains. The reasons behind these differences are, 

however, difficult to explain fully. For the moment, an 
adequate way of describing the appearance of the Bell 
Beaker Culture in western Switzerland is not “rupture”, 
nor “continuity”, but simply “difference”. 

These results led J. Desideri to extend her research 
to the rest of Europe for her doctoral thesis. She shall 
base her research on the different geographical domains 
(Fig. 2) defined by M. Besse’s (2001) study of Bell Beaker 
common ware,7 by compiling a corpus including pre-Bell 
Beaker (Late Neolithic), Bell Beaker and post-Bell Beaker 
(Bronze age) individuals. The eastern domain shall be 

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Fig. 1. Cluster analysis (Euclidean distance, UPGMA method), above, and multidimensional scaling (with a 
stress value of 5%), below, representing the position of  different Middle Neolithic (symbolised by a circle), Late 
Neolithic (triangles) and Bell Beaker (lozenges) populations in Western Switzerland, based on the observation of 
61 dental non-metric traits. 

DENTAL ANTHROPOLOGY AT GENEVA



56 57S. EADES AND J. DESIDERI

represented by a series of subjects from sites located 
mostly in the Czech Republic, but also from Hungary, 
Austria and Poland. The southern domain will cover 
funerary assemblages from Switzerland, Northern Italy 
and France. Finally, the northern domain shall include 
individuals from Belgium, the Netherlands, and part of 
Germany. 

J. Desideri shall try to answer certain questions that 
should make it possible to reconstruct the history of these 
populations before, during, and after the Bell Beaker 
culture. She shall more specifically try to determine 
whether this culture is characterized by a rupture or 
a continuity of the local population, and whether it 
is responsible for the emergence of the Early Bronze 
age. By confronting her results with data from other 
archaeological and anthropological studies, she hopes 
to understand the modalities which made possible the 
emergence of such a widespread phenomenon. 

CONCLUSION

So far, work on dental non-metric traits carried out 
at the Department of Anthropology and Ecology of 
Geneva University has proved promising. Hypotheses 
concerning the population of Western Switzerland 
during the Late Neolithic have been arrived at, and data 
collected on individuals of known family relationships is 
currently being exploited. At the moment, little work is 
being carried out in Europe on dental non-metric traits, 
and the two authors have few opportunities to confront 
their results and methods with fellow researchers in 
this domain. We hope that this brief presentation in 
the papers of the DAA will be of interest to dental 
anthropologists working in America or elsewhere; any 
comments or suggestions concerning these two research 
subjects will be highly appreciated.The authors would 
like to thank Dr. Christiane Kramar for her help in 
writing this article. 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Suzanne Eades would like to thank the Fonds 
National Suisse de la Recherche Scientifique, the 
Fondation Ernst et Lucie Schmidheiny and the Société 
de Physique et d’Histoire Naturelle de Genève for their 
crucial financial support. Her study was made possible 
by use of material from the Burlington Growth Center, 
Faculty of Dentistry, University of Toronto, which was 
supported by funds provided by Grant (1) (N° 605-7-
299) National Health Grant (Canada), (data collection); 
(2) Province of Ontario Grant PR 33 (duplicating) and 
(3) the Varsity Fund (for housing and collection). 
Jocelyne Desideri would like to thank the Académie 
Suisse des Sciences Naturelles, the Société Suisse 
d’Anthropologie and the Department of Anthropology 
and Ecology of the University of Geneva for their 
financial support.

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FOOTNOTES
1 With the exception of a pioneering work by H. Muller 
in 1977. 

2 Under the direction of Profs. André Langaney and 
Alain Gallay from this Department.

3 Under the direction of Dr. Christian Simon, Lecturer at 
the Department of Anthropology, who unfortunately 
passed away at the beginning of 2000, and Prof. Alain 
Gallay. 

4 Under the direction of Prof. André Langaney, Director, 
and Marie Besse, assistant professor, both at the 
Department of Anthropology of Geneva University. 

5 Sangmeister, 1963; Gimbutas, 1970; Lanting and Van 
der Waals, 1976; Gallay, 1978; 1998; Guilaine, 1998; 
Besse, 2001.

6 Elimination of invariant expressions, of sexually 
dimorphic traits, fusion of bilaterally expressed traits, 
estimation of trait population incidences on mesial 
teeth by Turner’s (1985) expression count. 

7 Besse defined three geographic areas in continental 
Europe based on the study of cultural differences 
according to the Bell Beaker common ware (Besse 
2001): a northern, a southern and an eastern domain. 

DENTAL ANTHROPOLOGY AT GENEVA