Molar Macrowear Reveals Neanderthal Eco-Geographic Dietary Variation

Luca Fiorenza,Stefano Benazzi,Ottmar Kullmer,Jeremy Tausch,Timothy G. Bromage,Friedemann Schrenk,Karen Rosenberg

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0014769

Abstract

Neanderthal diets are reported to be based mainly on the consumption of large and medium sized herbivores, while the exploitation of other food types including plants has also been demonstrated. Though some studies conclude that early Homo sapiens were active hunters, the analyses of faunal assemblages, stone tool technologies and stable isotopic studies indicate that they exploited broader dietary resources than Neanderthals. Whereas previous studies assume taxon-specific dietary specializations, we suggest here that the diet of both Neanderthals and early Homo sapiens is determined by ecological conditions. We analyzed molar wear patterns using occlusal fingerprint analysis derived from optical 3D topometry. Molar macrowear accumulates during the lifespan of an individual and thus reflects diet over long periods. Neanderthal and early Homo sapiens maxillary molar macrowear indicates strong eco-geographic dietary variation independent of taxonomic affinities. Based on comparisons with modern hunter-gatherer populations with known diets, Neanderthals as well as early Homo sapiens show high dietary variability in Mediterranean evergreen habitats but a more restricted diet in upper latitude steppe/coniferous forest environments, suggesting a significant consumption of high protein meat resources.

Highlights

Neanderthal diet The study of dietary habits together with paleoecological analyses, allow researchers to obtain information regarding subsistence strategies in ancient human populations
Many scientists have attempted to reconstruct the Neanderthal diet using associated faunal remains and lithic industry [1,2,3], stable isotope signatures [4,5,6,7,8,9,10] and dental microwear analysis [11]. These techniques suggest that Neanderthals from northern and middle latitudes were primarily active hunters subsisting on large and medium sized herbivores, while the southern Neanderthals from Mediterranean coastlines had a more diversified diet enriched by the exploitation of small animals and marine shellfish [3,12,13,14,15]
A few studies indicate that early Homo sapiens were active hunters focusing mainly on the consumption of terrestrial herbivores [9,16], the analysis of faunal assemblages, stone tool technologies and stable isotopic studies indicate that early Homo sapiens exploited a broader dietary spectrum than Neanderthals [3,12,17,18,19,20,21]

Summary

Introduction

Neanderthal diet The study of dietary habits together with paleoecological analyses, allow researchers to obtain information regarding subsistence strategies in ancient human populations. Many scientists have attempted to reconstruct the Neanderthal diet using associated faunal remains and lithic industry [1,2,3], stable isotope signatures [4,5,6,7,8,9,10] and dental microwear analysis [11] These techniques suggest that Neanderthals from northern and middle latitudes were primarily active hunters subsisting on large and medium sized herbivores, while the southern Neanderthals from Mediterranean coastlines had a more diversified diet enriched by the exploitation of small animals and marine shellfish [3,12,13,14,15]. A more diversified early Homo sapiens diet could have led to a demographic expansion resulting in increased competition with Neanderthal populations [2,3]

Methods

Results

Conclusion