Neanderthal Diet Research Articles

Neanderthal diets in central and southeastern Mediterranean Iberia

During recent decades, Neanderthal diet has been a major research topic in palaeoanthropology. This has been accelerated by the maturation of different techniques, which have produced a plethora of new information. However, this proliferation of data has led to confusing and contradictory results. Furthermore, most of the ecological dietary studies have been carried out on specimens drawn from different time periods and regions, almost exclusively those characterized by cold, open environmental conditions. Subsistence models based on these fragmentary data have been applied to Neanderthals living in a variety of different regions and environments, even though their dietary strategies may have been as variable as regions they inhabited. In this paper we integrate different dietary approaches (studies of the zooarchaeology, stable isotopes and plant remains) from the central and southeastern Mediterranean coast of Iberia in order to develop a broader and more complex picture of Neanderthal diet in different Mediterranean environmental conditions. Our results suggest that there may have been some minor dietary variation due to climatic or environmental differences, but that Neanderthal diet focussed on large terrestrial game, supplemented by plant foods when these were available.

Neanderthal Use of Fish, Mammals, Birds, Starchy Plants and Wood 125-250,000 Years Ago

Neanderthals are most often portrayed as big game hunters who derived the vast majority of their diet from large terrestrial herbivores while birds, fish and plants are seen as relatively unimportant or beyond the capabilities of Neanderthals. Although evidence for exploitation of other resources (small mammals, birds, fish, shellfish, and plants) has been found at certain Neanderthal sites, these are typically dismissed as unusual exceptions. The general view suggests that Neanderthal diet may broaden with time, but that this only occurs sometime after 50,000 years ago. We present evidence, in the form of lithic residue and use-wear analyses, for an example of a broad-based subsistence for Neanderthals at the site of Payre, Ardèche, France (beginning of MIS 5/end of MIS 6 to beginning of MIS 7/end of MIS 8; approximately 125–250,000 years ago). In addition to large terrestrial herbivores, Neanderthals at Payre also exploited starchy plants, birds, and fish. These results demonstrate a varied subsistence already in place with early Neanderthals and suggest that our ideas of Neanderthal subsistence are biased by our dependence on the zooarchaeological record and a deep-seated intellectual emphasis on big game hunting.

Ancient starch: Cooked or just old?

Henry et al. (1) argued for greater sophistication in Neanderthal diets on the basis of the identification of ancient starch granules, some of which—according to changes in morphology—displayed “clear evidence of cooking.” Despite the emphasis on morphology and morphological change, there is no attempt to apply any statistical rigor to their morphology-based identifications (cf. ref. 2); nor is there any attempt to independently confirm that any of the observed structures are indeed composed of starch. Biochemical tests, such as digestion with Bacillus licheniformis 1,4-α-d-glucan-glucanohydrolase (3), can confirm the presence of starch and may give some insight into diagenesis. Similar characterization of other ancient biomolecules (proteins, lipids, lignocellulose, and DNA) has revealed a general truth that the older a sample is, the more degraded it is. The authors do consider that chewing may have altered the morphology of some granules (their Supporting Information) but do not consider a more prosaic explanation—namely that granules were not cooked, but merely old.

Molar Macrowear Reveals Neanderthal Eco-Geographic Dietary Variation

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.

Monospecific faunal spectra in Mousterian contexts: Implications for social behavior

This paper focuses on the question of the existence of collective hunting in Neanderthal populations. While many Mousterian sites from Western Europe exhibit faunal assemblages clearly dominated by a particular taxon, faunal spectrum alone is not enough to discuss the hunting strategies developed for their acquisition and the relative importance of the prey in Neanderthal diet. Therefore, Neanderthal hunting strategies are examined using different proxies such as prey selection and carcass exploitation in two Late Pleistocene sites: Mauran and Les Pradelles. These sites share all the characteristics (high quantity of faunal material, specialized faunal spectrum, large number of prey, catastrophic mortality profile, seasonal slaughter, possible selective transport of the richest elements) usually recognized in communal hunting assemblages. The conclusions underline that the subsistence economy of the hunter-gatherers in question involves the planned procurement of animal resources with the intention of storing surplus in anticipation of future food needs. It demonstrates that Neanderthal populations in Southwestern Europe already possessed the necessary technical and cognitive capacities.

Microfossils in calculus demonstrate consumption of plants and cooked foods in Neanderthal diets (Shanidar III, Iraq; Spy I and II, Belgium)

The nature and causes of the disappearance of Neanderthals and their apparent replacement by modern humans are subjects of considerable debate. Many researchers have proposed biologically or technologically mediated dietary differences between the two groups as one of the fundamental causes of Neanderthal disappearance. Some scenarios have focused on the apparent lack of plant foods in Neanderthal diets. Here we report direct evidence for Neanderthal consumption of a variety of plant foods, in the form of phytoliths and starch grains recovered from dental calculus of Neanderthal skeletons from Shanidar Cave, Iraq, and Spy Cave, Belgium. Some of the plants are typical of recent modern human diets, including date palms (Phoenix spp.), legumes, and grass seeds (Triticeae), whereas others are known to be edible but are not heavily used today. Many of the grass seed starches showed damage that is a distinctive marker of cooking. Our results indicate that in both warm eastern Mediterranean and cold northwestern European climates, and across their latitudinal range, Neanderthals made use of the diverse plant foods available in their local environment and transformed them into more easily digestible foodstuffs in part through cooking them, suggesting an overall sophistication in Neanderthal dietary regimes.

Climatic variability and plant food distribution in Pleistocene Europe: Implications for Neanderthal diet and subsistence

Contrary to their cold-adapted image, Neanderthals inhabited Pleistocene Europe during a time of great climatic fluctuation with temperatures ranging from as warm as present-day during the last interglacial to as cold as those of the last glacial maximum. Cold-adapted Neanderthals are similarly most often associated with the exploitation of large mammals who are themselves cold-adapted (mammoth, bison, reindeer, etc.). Cold, high-latitude environments are typically seen as lacking in plants generally and in plant foods in particular. Plant foods are therefore usually ignored and Neanderthals are increasingly being viewed as top carnivores who derived the vast majority of their diet from meat. Support for this hypothesis comes largely from stable isotope analysis which tracks only the protein portion of the diet. Diets high in lean meat largely fulfill micronutrient needs but can pose a problem at the macronutrient level. Lean meat can compose no more than 35% of dietary energy before a protein ceiling is reached. Exceeding the protein ceiling can have detrimental physiological effects on the individual. Neanderthals would have needed energy from alternative sources, particularly when animals are fat-depleted and lean meat intake is high. Underground storage organs (USOs) of plants offer one such source, concentrating carbohydrates and energy. USOs could also provide an important seasonal energy source since they are at their maximum energy storage in late fall/winter. Although Paleolithic sites are increasingly yielding plant remains, their presence is rare and they are often given only passing mention in Neanderthal dietary reconstructions. The complexity and number of potential wild plant foods, however, defies easy discussion. Native European wild edible plants with starchy USOs would have been potentially available throughout the Neanderthal range, even during the coldest periods of the Late Pleistocene.

Hunters, fishers and scavengers

Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of bone collagen is now a popular method of palaeodietary inquiry. With the routine application of this technique, small sample sizes and good organic preservation in many late Pleistocene sites, there are now a large number of stable isotope articles available that report on Palaeolithic diet. A number of these have focused on reconstructing Neanderthal diet because carbon and nitrogen measurements of bone collagen distinguish between the relative contribution of animal and marine protein to the diet. For Palaeolithic studies, key debates include the carnivorous diet of Neanderthals in contrast to anatomically modern humans and direct evidence supporting the Broad Spectrum Revolution among modern humans. This paper provides a critical conspectus of current research, focusing on dietary reconstruction of Neanderthals and outlines the current evidence, areas of debate and suggests other sources of dietary protein and directions for future research.

Diet and behavior of the Saint-Césaire Neanderthal inferred from biogeochemical data inversion

Biogeochemistry is a powerful tool for dietary reconstruction, and mixing equations can be used to quantify the contribution of multiple sources to an individual's diet. The goals of this paper are: 1) to generalize the inverse method to dietary mixtures; and 2) to reconstruct the diet of the Saint-Césaire Neanderthal using Sr/Ca and Ba/Ca data of the mineral fraction of bone (hydroxylapatite), and with published δ 13C and δ 15N data of the associated organic fraction of bone (collagen). A new method is proposed to calculate the maximum diagenetic contribution of the Sr/Ba ratio, assuming that the soil soluble fraction is the diagenetic end-member and, for a given fraction of diagenesis, allows the restoration of the original Sr/Ba ratio. Considering the Saint-Césaire Châtelperronian mammalian assemblage as the meat source, and on the basis of available Sr, Ba, and Ca contents of plants, the results indicate that the percentage of plants in the Neanderthal's diet must have been close to zero for realistic Sr and Ba impoverishment between diet and hydroxylapatite. Contrary to previous studies, it is shown that fish could constitute a significant proportion (30%) of the diet of the Saint-Césaire Neanderthal. However, this mass balance solution is not supported by the zooarchaeological data. When the entire faunal assemblage is considered as the dietary source, the calculation shows that bovids (except reindeer) represent the greatest percentage of consumed meat (58%), followed by horses/rhinoceros (22%), reindeer (13%), and mammoths (7%). These respective percentages are in close accordance with zooarchaeological records, suggesting that the faunal assemblage associated with the Neanderthal of Saint-Césaire reliably reflects what he ate during the last few years of his life. In behavioral terms, this result supports the hypothesis that this Neanderthal carried the foodstuffs back to the Saint-Césaire shelter before their consumption.

Contributions of biogeochemistry to understanding hominin dietary ecology

Dietary ecology is one key to understanding the biology, lifeways, and evolutionary pathways of many animals. Determining the diets of long-extinct hominins, however, is a considerable challenge. Although archaeological evidence forms a pillar of our understanding of diet and subsistence in the more recent past, for early hominins, the most direct evidence is to be found in the fossils themselves. Here we review the suite of emerging biochemical paleodietary tools based on stable isotope and trace element archives within fossil calcified tissues. We critically assess their contribution to advancing our understanding of australopith, early Homo, and Neanderthal diets within the broader context of non-biogeochemical techniques for dietary reconstruction, such as morphology and dental microwear analysis. The most significant outcomes to date are the demonstration of high trophic-level diets among Neanderthals and Late Pleistocene modern humans in Glacial Europe, and the persistent inclusion of C(4) grass-related foods in the diets of Plio-Pleistocene hominins in South Africa. Such studies clearly show the promise of biogeochemical techniques for testing hypotheses about the diets of early hominins. Nevertheless, we argue that more contextual data from modern ecosystem and experimental studies are needed if we are to fully realize their potential.

Neanderthal behaviour and stone tool function at the Middle Palaeolithic site of La Quina, France

Neanderthal diet is explored by examining stone tools found at the site of La Quina for residues and microwear. The Neanderthal people are found to be using their scrapers for working plants and woods as well as meat.

Neanderthal diet at Vindija and Neanderthal predation: the evidence from stable isotopes.

Archeological analysis of faunal remains and of lithic and bone tools has suggested that hunting of medium to large mammals was a major element of Neanderthal subsistence. Plant foods are almost invisible in the archeological record, and it is impossible to estimate accurately their dietary importance. However, stable isotope (delta(13)C and delta(15)N) analysis of mammal bone collagen provides a direct measure of diet and has been applied to two Neanderthals and various faunal species from Vindija Cave, Croatia. The isotope evidence overwhelmingly points to the Neanderthals behaving as top-level carnivores, obtaining almost all of their dietary protein from animal sources. Earlier Neanderthals in France and Belgium have yielded similar results, and a pattern of European Neanderthal adaptation as carnivores is emerging. These data reinforce current taphonomic assessments of associated faunal elements and make it unlikely that the Neanderthals were acquiring animal protein principally through scavenging. Instead, these findings portray them as effective predators.

Did Cannibalism and Spongiform Encephalopathy Contribute to the Demise of the Neanderthals?

There is palaeological evidence that Neanderthals ate the brain tissue of their own deceased as well as that of deer and goats. This would expose each participating individual to the risks of contracting an animal spongiform encephalopathy. Those who consumed the remains of infected individual's would then contract a form of the disease and eventually infect others. If that occured, then the Neanderthal diet could have contributed to their eventual demise. Key Words: Neanderthals, spongiform encephalopathy, kuru, human evolution, Scrapie, cannibalism, chimpanzees As Azar Gat has observed in this journal, the reason for the demise of the Neanderthals is still a mystery. In a subsequent issue, Goodhart has postulated that the Neanderthals, and other populations of Homo erectus, retained the 24 pairs of chromosomes characteristic of chimpanzees and gorillas. In this case, mating with Homo sapiens would probably not have produced fertile offspring. Goodhart then ascribed their disappearance to an inability to compete with the socially more advanced Homo sapiens. Gat also adduces a social distinction, by postulating significantly smaller tribal groupings among the Neanderthals, with consequent inability to wage warfare cooperatively on a large scale. Other theories, reviewed by Gat, include less efficient Mousterian tools, looser family structure, inferior planning ability, and weaker linguistic capability. I now present another more damaging Neanderthal social trait, which could well have curtailed their continued existence. Although the Neanderthals have been assumed to have been hunter-gatherers, there is evidence that they subsisted almost entirely by hunting. Richards et al. report an isotope analysis of Neanderthal bone collagen, indicating that they were top-level carnivores who obtained almost all of their dietary protein from animal sources. The first evidence that they were also cannibals appears to have been found in a rock shelter near the Krapinica River in Croatia. Here, skeletal fossils of at least 13 adults and children revealed skulls, teeth and post-cranial bones that had Neanderthal features. The remains were estimated to belong to the last glacial period, about 40,000 to 75,000 years ago. The fragmented state of the skulls, together with evidence of charring, suggested that the extracranial tissues and the brain had been cooked and eaten. These findings were reported by D. Gorjanovic-Kramberger in 1906, but a more recent report came from DeFleur et al. in 1999, and concerned excavation of a cave site near the River Rhone in south-eastern France. Here both human and animal (mainly deer) skeletal remains were uncovered and the human remains appeared to be Neanderthal. Both the human and animal skulls were in fragments and the exterior of both bore the same pattern of incised grooves indicative of defleshing. The report concludes from the fractured state of both skulls and other bones that the brains and marrow had been extracted for consumption. The authors note that cannibalism has been attributed to the Neanderthals for about a century, and give six other references of findings similar to their own. A present-day people who until recently ate human brain are the Fore people of Papua New Guinea. They performed this cannibalistic act as part of a mourning ritual, in which the brain of the deceased relative was handled and then eaten. The Fore suffered an endemic disease known as Kuru, because of its symptom of trembling, which is kuru in the Fore language. It is a rapidly progressive brain disease that is usually fatal within two years of onset. Kuru is one of the spongiform encephalopathies, in which the brain develops a spongy appearance due to the development in it of multiple small cavities. The pattern of incidence suggested a transmissible rather than hereditary disease. An American physician proved this by injecting samples of brain tissue from a sufferer into chimpanzees, who developed the same disease. …

Effect of diet, physiology and climate on carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes of collagen in a late pleistocene anthropic palaeoecosystem: Marillac, Charente, France

In fossil mammal bones and teeth from Marillac (40,000–45,000 years Br), collagen has been found to be preserved. This collagen presents a similar amino acid composition to modern collagen. An isotopic difference between collagen of herbivorous and carnivorous species is clearly documented in this paper and it is shown that the decrease of the amount of collagen in bones and teeth through diagenesis has not altered the original isotopic signal. It has been possible to demonstrate the carnivorous diet of Neanderthals. In addition, more subtle isotopicdifferences have been documented between the different species within each trophic group consumed. These differences can be linked to physiology, or to particular kinds of food of each animal species. Another isotopic signal due to nursing effects has also been observed. A young mammal suckling its mother's milk is one trophic level higher than an adult of the same species. Consequently, the collagen of deciduous teeth records an isotopic signal from the food consumed before weaning. Also, in species where most of the tooth growth occurs before weaning time, the collagen of permanent teeth records, in part, information about the milk diet. Thus the 15N composition of such teeth is different from the isotopic composition of bones in the same individual. The variation of the 15N composition of bone collagen along the stratigraphical sequence of the site shows that this isotopic signal may also be used for the palaeoclimatic reconstruction; for example, evidence of an arid period is seen in the layer #7 in Marillac.