Tooth-picking behavior identified in the middle Pleistocene hominins of Eastern China
Interproximal grooves have been identified on a variety of Pleistocene Homo taxa from different sites across the Old World. A diversity of hypotheses has been proposed to explain these interproximal grooves, ranging from oral hygiene to alleviating pain due to periodontal disease. The most popular explanation appears to be the habitual use of a toothpick, made of bone, horn or plant material. However, evidence of hominin tooth-picking is rarely reported in eastern Asia. In a paper published online in the journal of Quaternary International, scientists from China, Spain and the United States reported evidence of tooth-picking in the middle Pleistocene Homo erectus recovered from Yiyuan, Shandong Province, eastern China, providing one of the earliest evidence of tooth-picking among Pleistocene hominins in eastern Asia.