Skulking after ancient bones
By Dave Fogerson
Of the Emerald
Poking around in human
remains hardly sounds ap
pealing to most people, but to
University professor John Lu
kacs, it's the key to discover
ing the past
Poring over the skeletons —
the skulls and shards of jaw
bones and teeth — with a hand
lens, Lukacs searches for
clues revealing the health and
condition of people before
their demise
He isn’t a forensic path
ologist, like television's
Quincy, although he some
times works in this capacity for
state and local police and the
county coroner He's not a
detective either, although his
sleuthing methods are similar
to that line of work.
Lukacs is a physical anth
ropologist, and the bones he
works with are as old as 3,000
years
"I’m anatomically oriented,"
Lukacs says "I'm quite inter
ested in how changes in cul
ture — particularly the tech
nology that goes into prepar
ing food and the methods of
getting food — affect the teeth
and jaws "
Lukacs' work took him to
Poone, India, perhaps more
famous as the founding place
of the Rajneesh religious sect
than for its ancient burial sites
In Poone, he examined 133
skeletons, brought in boxes
from a burial site named
Inamgaon. His work involved
measuring, photographing,
occasionally x-raying the
skeletons and compiling the
results of his research The
site has been excavated since
1968 by Indian archaeologists
Lukacs bases his research
on the hypothesis that as cul
ture gets more complex, jaw
bone and tooth size decrease
and the anatomy of the tooth
gets less complex According
to the theory, the jawbone has
been reduced in size over the
ages in part because jaw
muscles have become weaker
through lack of use
"The functions that teeth
were performing in ancient
man are being performed by
tools," Lukacs says "Rather
than grind grains between
teeth, you're grinding them on
a grinding stone You couldn't
boil food till you had pottery,
Photo by Bob Baker
Physical anthropolgist John Lukacs examines skulls and shards
of bone to reveal clues about ancient people
so when you compare pre
pottery to post-pottery cul
tures you expect to find further
reduction in the amount of
stress on the jaws "
Lukacs envisions a
“hypothetical homo-futuris' a
thousand years down the line
might have no teeth and a
small, degenerative jaw" if this
evolution is continued
But Lukacs isn’t satisfied
with just knowing there were
changes in the jaw and teeth —
he wants to know how and why
that evolved
“The question is how that
happens," he says. “What’s
the correlation between the
reduction of teeth and jaws
with changes in culture?"
Evidence shows that the
transition from larger jaws and
more complex teeth to smaller
jaws and less complex teeth
occur as agriculture replaces
hunting and gathering as a
way of life, Lukacs says
This has been well
documented for Europe and
western Asia, he says, and his
findings in southern Asia are
similar
It has also been demon
strated that the time frame for
when a culture becomes
agricultural and when jaw and
tooth size reduction occurs is
about the same for cultures
around the world, Lukacs
says
"We talk about an agricul
tural revolution that happened
10.000 years ago, but it didn't
happen simultaneously,” he
says. “These people (in
southern Asia) just started
getting into agriculture around
700-1,000 B C , so it's an early
farming community even
though it's late in time com
pared with other farming sites.
However, Lukacs notes the
change in time and technology
is accompanied by about the
same reduction in jaw and
tooth size for the populations,
suggesting a cause/effect
relationship
Lukacs plans on returning to
India and studying fossil
records in conjunction with
dental records of modern
people
He values this kind of re
search as not only a data bank
for practicing orthodontists,
but a historical perspective on
why humans are the way they
are today
M ercha nts—-lrom pa9e 1
with local businesses," Jansen
said
The men complained that the
school, which according.to
board policy may house educa
tional groups in unused dorm
rooms, has "overstepped their
legal authority" by housing
non-educational groups and
participating in a nationwide
Elderhostel program.
LSAT • MCAT * GRE
GRE PSYCH - GRE BIO
MAT • GMAT • DAT
OCAT • PCAT • VAT
SSAT • PSAT • ACHIEVEMENTS
SAT • ACT - TOEFL • MSKP
NATL MED BOS • ECFMG
FLEX • VQE • NOB • RN BOS
CPA • SPEED READING
StonOeuM KAPLAN
EDUCATIONAL CENTER
Test Preparation Specialists
Since 193S
For information Ptease Calf
— 485-5699 ■
%n rtallw CmAral/i
The three men also told .the
board that occupancy rates at
Ashland motels had fallen from
80 percent to 65 percent.
Board vice chairer Loren
Wyss told the businessmen the
board was sympathetic but the
college can also be viewed as a
boon to business
A number of us are sym
pathetic,” Wyss said. “We do
IT
have to look at the running of
institutions as businesses,
too. . sometimes institutional
leaders make choices different
ly than the board would liave
made ”
The board, which made no
recommendation, told the bu
sinessmen they'd look into the
situation and possibly discuss it
further at their next meeting.
=n
^"German
AUTO SERVICE
VWs-MERCEDES-BMWs
DATSUN-TOYOTA-AUDI
Reliable service for your foreign car
342-2912
2025 Franklin Blvd
Eugene, Oregon
SALE!
10 Gallon Aquarium
reg $21 99 $14.99
$5 Gift Certificate
with complete aquarium set up
LITTLE OCEAN
1920 Franklin Boulevard • 687-0682
(between Radio Shack and Baskin Robbins)
Sale ends Dec 24, 1982
☆ TUNE-UPS ☆ BRAKES
☆ FUEL INJECTION
n.iase certified general mechanic
PHONE 485-8226
1917 FRANKLIN
CLOSE TO
CAMPUS
r
30th ANNIVERSARY
SALE
GORETEX* RAINGEAR
Sierra West F A D Jackets reg. $110.00 NOW $74.50
North Face Stowaway Jacket reg. $125.00 NOW $89.95
Kelty Ladies Jacket reg $133.00 NOW $112.50
WARM JACKETS FILLED WITH
.POLARGUARD OR THINSULATE
Sierra Designs Thinsulate
Mountain Parka
reg $149.50 .NOW $104.50
North Face Polarguard Jacket"
reg $80.00 .NOW $42.50
Trailwise "Griffon”
reg. $72.00 .NOW $36.00
Patagonia Bunting Jackets
reg. $55.50 NOW $41.50
WINTER NECESSITIES
Patagonia Canvas Shirts
reg $26.50 NOW $14.95
Holubar Medium Weight
Chamois Shirts . NOW $17.95
Woolrich Shetland Sweaters
reg. $35.00 NOW $26.95
Robbins Guernsey Isle Sweaters
reg. $48.00 .NOW $31.95
Sales thru Wednesday
Some are slight irregulars
57 WEST BROADWAY • 686-2332
EUGENE DOWNTOWN