First permanent molars with accentuated line patterns: Assessment of childhood health in an urban complex of the fifth millennium before the present.

Objectives: The objectives are 1) to calculate the position of highly accentuated lines in dental enamel of a group of individuals from Shahr-i-Sokhta, a thriving urban centre in Bronze Age South West Asia; 2) to identify peak frequencies of physiologically stressful periods during early childhood of these individuals; and 3) to relate these peak frequencies to developmental milestones at population level.

Design: We analysed highly accentuated lines in the enamel of nine (n = 9) permanent mandibular first molars of nine individuals from the 5th millennium before the present urban and long-distance-trading complex, Shahr-i Sokhta (Iran). Age at death ranged between 4.