Abstract: Age-at-death distributions, or mortality profiles from Paleolithic archaeological faunal assemblages, are important for reconstructing critical aspects of ancient behaviours such as hunting strategies and the use of resources. Seasonality, as well, provides a powerful tool in studying the residential mobility, foraging activity, dispersion and aggregation of populations of ancient people. The study of numerous thin sections of dental cementum has shown that the growth structures observed in recent mineralized tissues are in correspondence with homologous structures observed in fossil specimens of the same species and thus can be used to analyze animal fossils from archaeological sites. Considering the potential importance of the method for archaeological research in general, this article presents the theory and methodology of cementum increment analysis and describes some applications in Paleolithic archaeological studies. Furthermore, attention is given to the method’s future application at Paleolithic archaeological sites in China.

Key words: Cementum increment; Age-at-death; Seasonality; Paleolithic