Abstract: This study describes the dental pathology and wounds of human bones unearthed from tombs and ash pits dating to the middle to late periods of the Taosi culture. The pathologies include dental caries,periodontal disease and enamel hypoplasia.This research shows that there might be two causes for the lower ratio of dental caries, either from the low average age of the analyzed bones or based on the proportion of meat in the diet. This result is confirmed by studies of dental abrasion rates as well as the re-analysis of stable isotope 15N data. In addition, this work reveals that more than half of the tomb bones had periodontal disease and about a third of the Taosi people were affected by metabolic stresses such as infectious diseases, fever and malnutrition during development from childhood. These bone disorders and crevices often seen on the skull fragments also suggest violent tendencies of the Taosi people, possibly from turbulent and conflict-intense periods in Taosi history.

Key words: Human skeleton; Dental caries; Periodontal disease; Enamel hypoplasia; Taosi