It consists almost exclusively of individuals who were born and died in inland Alentejo, being the only Portuguese collection with this characteristic. The collection of identified skeletons from the University of Évora comprises 201 adults of both sexes and seven non-adults, deceased between 18 and born between 17. The purpose of this study is to characterize and contextualize a new Portuguese reference collection. However, the development of methodologies is more reliable the closer the collection is socioeconomically, demographically, and genetically to the population under study. The importance of reference osteological collections is unquestionable. The DCRC – UC is an invaluable resource to both research and teaching activities. Lastly, the strategy of the conservation and storage conditions of the casts are underlined, a vital aspect of this working collection, emphasizing its protection while also allowing it to function as a usable resource.Ĭurrently, the addition of new individuals to the dental cast collection is paused due to the COVID-19 pandemic, however the future work and expected expansion will require new logistic solutions. Age ranges from 17 to 49 years, including individuals of Portuguese (n=79) and non-Portuguese nationality (n=11). The volunteers were students, teachers and visiting researchers of the Department of Life Sciences of the University of Coimbra. The collection includes the dental casts of 90 adult individuals of both sexes: 69 females and 21 males. The casts were obtained from volunteers who answered a brief questionnaire (sex, age, nationality, previous orthodontic and dental data) after informed consent. The modern dental cast collection (DCRC - UC) was created in 2016 for teaching and research purposes. This work aims to present the new Dental Cast Reference Collection – University of Coimbra (DCRC - UC) housed in the Laboratory of Prehistory of the Department of Life Sciences of the University of Coimbra (Portugal). While dental collections exist throughout the world, their reports and documentation are scarce in the literature. This perspective evolved, mainly, with the research on population variation and human identification through dental characteristics.

However, until recently, the same relevance has not been placed on dental cast collections. Identified skeletal and skull collections are centrepiece for research in biological anthropology.

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