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Introduction: Cementochronology in Chronobiology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2022

By
Stephan Naji
Edited by
Stephan Naji ,
William Rendu  and
Lionel Gourichon
Stephan Naji
Affiliation:
New York University
William Rendu
Affiliation:
University of Bordeaux (CNRS)
Lionel Gourichon
Affiliation:
Université de Nice, Sophia Antipolis
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Summary

The purpose of this volume is to gather interdisciplinary scholars to explore and implement cementochronology, the analysis of cementum growth, from a chronobiology perspective. Chronobiology, the study of biological rhythms, rests on the premise that the regular rotation of the earth around its central axis and the sun produces two fundamental periodicities to which all life has become adapted. The evolutionary "clock-shop" model posits that circadian clocks govern daily rhythmicity, and circannual clocks provide a seasonal endogenous calendar. We present current theories explaining and interpreting cyclic growth marks observed in hard tissues, especially cementum. Repeated empirical and validation studies are now available to explain cementum's annual/seasonal periodicity, even though specific molecular pathways are still needed. We present our evidence in three parts covering cementum biology, protocols, and anthropological applications and argue that cementochronology with its regular and continuous growth characteristics should have a privileged place among skeletal age indicators.

Keywords

cementochronologycementumchronobiologycircannualnomenclature
Type
Chapter
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Dental Cementum in Anthropology , pp. 1 - 18
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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