Determination of the dietary habits of a Magdalenian woman from Saint-Germain-la-Rivière in southwestern France using stable isotopes

Drucker, Dorothée G.; Henry-Gambier, Dominique

doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2005.02.007

Cited by 55 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…(b) Ungulate meat weight Ungulate meat weight was chosen as a viable palaeodemographic proxy, following the assumption that faunal assemblages represent the food debris of the main source of dietary protein for hunter-gatherers in the European Upper Palaeolithic (Drucker and Henry-Gambier, 2005;Richards, 2009) and can provide an indication of the potential quantity of food, and therefore number of consumers, at a site. Counts of the Minimum Number of Individuals (MNI) represented by an assemblage were collected from the literature for the 10 most prevalent ungulate taxa in the region (Table S6, Supplementary Material).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The demography of the Upper Palaeolithic hunter–gatherers of Southwestern France: A multi-proxy approach using archaeological data

French

2015

Journal of Anthropological Archaeology

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a b s t r a c tDemographic change is increasingly cited as an explanation for many of the patterns seen in the Palaeolithic archaeological record, following the assumption of a relationship between population size and material culture espoused by dual inheritance theory. However, the empirical testing of this relationship relies on the ability to extract information about past population patterns from the archaeological record. Using the extensive and well-studied record of the Upper Palaeolithic (39,500-11,500 cal BP) hunter-gatherers of Southwestern France as a case-study, this paper compares the evidence for changes in relative population size as seen in three popular archaeological proxies for demographic change (site counts, site sizes, and occupation intensity estimates). These proxies present conflicting results across the sequence; a finding which is explored through the impact of taphonomic biases and past research agendas. Numbers of sheltered sites and quantities of retouched stone tools are suggested to be the most reliable demographic proxies. The problem of equifinality of interpretation in archaeological proxies for demography is examined for the Aurignacian and Gravettian periods in the region, with changes in lithic raw material, faunal acquisition strategies, and hunter-gatherer mobility all potentially contributing to the patterns documented.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The demography of the Upper Palaeolithic hunter–gatherers of Southwestern France: A multi-proxy approach using archaeological data

French

2015

Journal of Anthropological Archaeology

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“…The idea that bone form reflects in some way its mechanical loading history during life is fundamental to many paleontological and bioarchaeological studies of skeletal material. While physical context and material culture give clues to past behavior, analysis of the skeletons themselves is the most direct way to reconstruct individual behavior, and to explore intra-and interpopulational differences in behavior (e.g., Larsen, 1997;Drucker and Henry-Gambier, 2005;Scott et al, 2005). Reconstructions of body size and shape from skeletal remains are also dependent to some degree on assumed relationships between mechanical loadings and bone morphology (Ruff, 1995(Ruff, , 2003Delson et al, 2000;Auerbach and Ruff, 2004).…”

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confidence: 99%

Who's afraid of the big bad Wolff?: “Wolff's law” and bone functional adaptation

Ruff

Holt

Trinkaus

2006

American J Phys Anthropol

771

620

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"Wolff's law" is a concept that has sometimes been misrepresented, and frequently misunderstood, in the anthropological literature. Although it was originally formulated in a strict mathematical sense that has since been discredited, the more general concept of "bone functional adaptation" to mechanical loading (a designation that should probably replace "Wolff's law") is supported by much experimental and observational data. Objections raised to earlier studies of bone functional adaptation have largely been addressed by more recent and better-controlled studies. While the bone morphological response to mechanical strains is reduced in adults relative to juveniles, claims that adult morphology reflects only juvenile loadings are greatly exaggerated. Similarly, while there are important genetic influences on bone development and on the nature of bone's response to mechanical loading, variations in loadings themselves are equally if not more important in determining variations in morphology, especially in comparisons between closely related individuals or species. The correspondence between bone strain patterns and bone structure is variable, depending on skeletal location and the general mechanical environment (e.g., distal vs. proximal limb elements, cursorial vs. noncursorial animals), so that mechanical/behavioral inferences based on structure alone should be limited to corresponding skeletal regions and animals with similar basic mechanical designs. Within such comparisons, traditional geometric parameters (such as second moments of area and section moduli) still give the best available estimates of in vivo mechanical competence. Thus, when employed with appropriate caution, these features may be used to reconstruct mechanical loadings and behavioral differences within and between past populations.

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“…Sowohl (zoo) archäologische und archäobotanische Befunde als auch Daten zu den δ 13 C-und δ 15 N-Werten des Knochenkollagens erlauben Aussagen über die Beschaffenheit der Nahrung im Jungpaläolithikum. Einschränkend ist anzumerken, dass die meisten Isotopen-Studien an Skelettfunden in Europa durchgeführt wurden [127][128][135][136][137].…”

Section: (Iii) Soziokulturellunclassified

“…Basierend auf Daten zu den δ 13 C-und δ 15 N-Werten des Knochenkollagens scheinen die Jungpaläolithiker in Europa einen beträchtlichen Anteil ihres Nahrungsbedarfs über den Verzehr vom Tier stammender Lebensmittel gedeckt zu haben. Der aquatische Anteil konnte regionsspezifisch deutlich variieren [135][136][137] und bis zu 30% des Nahrungsproteins ausmachen [127]. Kritisch anzumerken ist, dass die Isotopendaten unterschiedlich zu interpretieren sind, so dass die Bedeutung aquatischer Lebensmittel kontrovers diskutiert wird [143][144].…”

Section: (Iii) Soziokulturellunclassified

Human nutrition in the context of evolutionary medicine

Schmeißer

Wolters

Hahn

2009

Wien Klin Wochenschr

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Evolutionary medicine has gained increasing attention in recent years by implying that a food selection similar to that of the Paleolithic may prevent diseases. This article is an attempt to characterize the food selection during hominid evolution based on current paleontologic research. Hominid evolution can be divided into multiple phases; and the nutrition ecology of the plio-pleistocene hominids can be tentatively characterized. According to new results of isotope analysis, the Australopithecines did ingest small amounts of animal food already 4.5-2.5 million years ago, while consuming a mainly plant based abrasive diet, which was similar to that of recent chimpanzees. Compared to the Australopithecines, the first representatives of Homo such as H. erectus and H. habilis (2.5-1.5 million years before today) were likely to consume a diet providing more energy and nutrients, which might also have been related to the more gracile dentition. Like H. sapiens the members of this species also consumed an omnivore diet. Assumptions about the nutrition ecology of the archaic and the modern H. sapiens are often concluded by analogies based on the living of historic and recent foragers (hunter-gatherers). As the few detailed ethnographic data show, the diet composition of the individual hunter-gatherer groups varied considerably and ranged from a nearly pure animal-based diet to a diet dominated by plants. All in all the eating behaviour of prehistoric humans was, like that of their pleistocene ancestors, very flexible. Except for focussing on an energy and nutrient-rich diet there was neither specialization in certain foods, nor a typical plant-animal ratio nor a defined macronutrient distribution. Correspondingly, it is impossible to justify details given by representatives of evolutionary medicine on "the Paleolithic diet" empirically.

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Determination of the dietary habits of a Magdalenian woman from Saint-Germain-la-Rivière in southwestern France using stable isotopes

Cited by 55 publications

References 38 publications

The demography of the Upper Palaeolithic hunter–gatherers of Southwestern France: A multi-proxy approach using archaeological data

The demography of the Upper Palaeolithic hunter–gatherers of Southwestern France: A multi-proxy approach using archaeological data

Who's afraid of the big bad Wolff?: “Wolff's law” and bone functional adaptation

Human nutrition in the context of evolutionary medicine

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