Sinodont vs Sundadont
Definition
Turner's two-pattern model of dental morphology variation in Asia and the Pacific. Sinodonts (northern Asian, East Asian, Indigenous American) have high frequencies of shovelling, double-shovelling, and single-rooted upper premolars. Sundadonts (Southeast Asian, Pacific) have lower frequencies of these traits and a somewhat simpler dental morphology.
- Model author
- Christy G. Turner II
- Sinodont traits
- Shovelling, double-shovelling, single-rooted upper premolars
- Sinodont populations
- Northeast/East Asia, Indigenous Americas
- Sundadont populations
- Southeast Asia, Pacific
Common questions
How is the sinodont-sundadont pattern used in forensic anthropology?+
An examiner scoring these non-metric dental traits on unidentified remains can suggest a broad population affinity, which contributes alongside cranial and other skeletal indicators to an ancestry estimate; it is not used alone as a definitive determination.
What is a limitation of relying on this dental pattern for ancestry estimation?+
Trait frequencies overlap between the two patterns rather than being fully exclusive, and admixture, individual variation, and incomplete dentition can all reduce the reliability of a classification made from this model alone.
Related terms
- ASUDAS
- Arizona State University Dental Anthropology System: a standardised plaque-based scoring system for 29 dental morphological traits developed by Christy Turner II and...
- Carabelli Trait
- An accessory cusp or groove on the mesiolingual surface of the maxillary first molar (and sometimes the second molar). It ranges from...
- Dental Morphological Trait
- A discrete or quasi-continuous feature of tooth shape whose presence and expression grade are largely heritable. Examples include incisor shovelling, Carabelli trait,...
- Phenice-Style Dichotomy
- A simplification used in some research that collapses ASUDAS continuous scores into present/absent dichotomies for frequency comparison. Useful for older literature but...
- Population Affinity
- The preferred modern forensic-anthropological term for the relationship between an unidentified individual's skeletal morphology and a modern reference population. Replaces the older...