A dental anthropological approach to issues of migration and population continuity in ancient Ireland

Archaeologists have relied heavily on cultural material remains as evidence for detecting past human migrations. As in many archaeological circles, Irish archaeologists debate the cause of distinct changes in suites of cultural materials through time. Some suggest change is evidence of population intrusion(s) while others argue for population continuity. This study of dental morphometric and metric variation was undertaken to provide comparative biological data to models of cultural evolution for ancient Ireland.; The introduction portrays inter-disciplinary findings from studies of human migration, shifting archaeological perspectives on migration, a brief overview of Irish prehistory and early history, the evidence for and against human migration into the island and the potential of dental anthropological study to discern population movements.; Article 1 describes a dental morphological character found in approximately 3 of every 10 ancient Irish specimens. This may be a previously unreported enamel trait or share some relationship to Bolk's paramolar tubercule. The trait may prove useful in future biodistancing studies in world populations.; Article 2 investigates intra-island regional differences in dental morphological characters and tooth crown dimensions. This research provides chronological depth to previous anthropometric and genetic studies of Irish populations. Few significant differences are found in morphometric traits. Strong regional differences are noted in odontometric data and principal components derived from morphometric data with patterns similar to those in recent Irish populations. Genetic drift is the likely cause for the regional patterns although small-scale migration may have been present on Ireland's east coast.; Article 3 illustrates dental morphological and metric variation through time from the Irish Neolithic to the Early Christian period. Few significant morphological and principal components variable differences are found between populations from major time periods, suggesting biological continuity. Tooth reduction is noted through time, a trend seen in many other post-Pleistocene human populations.; The Conclusions section proposes greater emphasis on inclusion of skeletal traits in studies of migration events in archaeology. Consideration is given to future avenues of research based on the findings of this project. Two appendices list dental specimens, where they are curated, brief information on individual specimens and archaeological site location.