Dietary reconstruction helps infer the subsistence strategies and cultural practices of ancient human populations. Dental microwear analysis, a method for understanding diet and behavior, is central to this thesis, which has two aims: 

1. Dietary Examination: Investigate the diet of two Roman populations (Batroun 1767 excavated in 2009 and Batroun Sewer Lines Bayader Area excavated in 2022) by analyzing microwear density and length on molar micrographs using a scanning electron microscope SEM. This study seeks to uncover differences in dietary abrasives related to social status, ecological niches, or food preparation methods.

2. Methodological Approach: Test for differences in patterns of attrition between buccal and occlusal dental microwear on the same teeth.

Dental samples have been transported to the Department of Anthropology at Masaryk University as part of a scientific collaboration between Lebanese University and Masaryk University.


The tasks during this study are to:


1. First training on using scanning electron microscope (SEM) at the Department of Geological Sciences.
2. Complete the dentals casts of the chosen molars (corpus of the study).
3. Scan the dental samples using the (SEM) at the Department of Geological Sciences
4. Data treatment (micrographs of molars/images) and statistic tests for comparison among groups.

 

Manuscript and defense must be in English.

To be awarded credit for the first semester (course Bi4502 Bachelor Thesis I) the above stated tasks 1 and 2 need to be accomplished, and to be awarded credit for the second semester (course Bi6100 Bachelor Thesis II) the above stated tasks 3 and 4 need to be accomplished, therefore, to finish the thesis and hand it in for thesis defense in the IS Archive. The recommended extent of the thesis is 30-50 pages but can be exceeded if the thesis development requires it. However, the 30-page lower limit is the minimum which can be accepted. The thesis will exclude the explicit description of utilized material and methods, including in cases when the thesis is in form of a literature review. The method/process description will clearly state the author’s contribution to acquired results. Czech version of the ISO 690 style will be the citation style. Appropriate tabular and graphical summarizing and instructive illustrations will form part of the thesis. The thesis will be handed in the PDF format in the IS Archive and in print bound form for defense and archiving purposes. In the formal and content aspects the valid MU legislation, Dean’s Measure on final these and Department of Anthropology internal regulations must be met.