Dental Traits among Five Tribes in Myanmar (Burma)

The presence or absence of 17 non-metric tooth crown traits was examined to investigate the intra- and interregional variation of five tribes in Myanmar (Burma). In this study, we elucidated dental traits at five other sites in Myanmar: Kalaw and Peinnebin located in the central Part of Myanmar, Tiddim located near India, Thandwe facing the Bay of Bengal and Myitkyina located near China. The Shans, the Chins, the Rakhines, the Palaungs, and the Kachins were identified from plaster models by using the Arizona State University Dental Anthropology System. The incidences of the five tribes were compared with other Mongoloid populations in various regions. According to multidimensional scaling based on Smith's Mean Measures of Divergence, all five tribes in Myanmar belong to Sundadonty. The prehistoric Burmars had more Sundadont elements than contemporary Myanmar populations. Myanmar was established by waves of human migration from neighboring regions. The biological divergence in the five tribes was not found to be associated with geographical distances and did not correlate with the traditional linguistic classification. Myanmar populations should be categorized taking into consideration a genetic influence from China as well as the theory of local evolution.