20225402(en)/8 - Phytolithic Analysis of Dental Calculus from the Ancient Inhabitants of the Chinchiná River Basin, Colombia

Viviana Andrea Yepes López, Jhonatan Martínez Murcia, Fiorella Villanueva y Juliana Gómez Mejía

A variety of microfossils such as pollen, starches, phytoliths and cyanobacteria originated from plant foods are trapped in the matrix of dental calculus. Among them, the group of phytoliths stands out, which are microscopic bodies of precipitated silica inside the cells or in the interstitial spaces along the structure of plants, generating mineralized particles of diverse sizes and shapes. Their morphological identification allows them to be classified taxonomically at the generic level and, sometimes, at the specific level, allowing the reconstruction of the diet of individuals and populations. In this work, we present the analysis of the phytoliths recovered, through a physicochemical process from the dental calculus belonging to 22 prehispanic individuals who occupied two sites (Palestina and El Edén) during the Early (