Ecological niche of Neanderthals from Spy Cave revealed by nitrogen isotopes of individual amino acids in collagen

Isotopic analyses suggest mammoth and plant in the diet of the oldest anatomically modern humans from far southeast Europe

“…2). This confirms that the high δ 15 N coll value of the mammoth is linked to the specificity of its diet rather than to physiological traits 18, 35, 36 . The δ 15 N Phe values of the foxes (11.7 to 15.7‰) were relatively consistent with those of the saiga, as expected from their comparable δ 13 C coll values.…”

“…The calculated trophic positions (TPs) of the herbivores using TP(C 3 ) equation were ranging from 1.8 to 2.0 and averaged at 1.9, slightly lower than the theoretical value for herbivores, which was found at the early Upper Palaeolithic site of Scladina in Belgium (mean TP = 2, excluding cave bears) 18 . The TP position of the wolf at 3.1 instead of 3 also reflects a possible uncertainty of ± 0.1 in the calculation of the TP value and/or variability in its diet.…”

“…A contribution of up to ca. 20% of plant to the dietary proteins was estimated for late Neanderthals from Spy (Belgium) 18 with TPs values between 2.7 and 2.8. Our estimation for the modern humans of Buran-Kaya III suggests a possible higher consumption of plants, which is consistent with the higher availability of such resources in more southern latitudes.

Figure 4Proportional contribution of Deer&Horse (red deer and horse), Saiga (saiga antelope), Mammoth (woolly mammoth) and Hare (hare) (from bottom to top along the y axis) as estimated by SIAR using the considering both δ 13 C coll and δ 15 N coll values for human remains from Buran-Kaya III layers 6-2 and 6-1.

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“…The possible overlapping in 13 C and 15 N abundances between freshwater food and mammoth hinders accurate estimation solely from bulk collagen. Recent advances in stable nitrogen isotope analysis on individual amino acids should help disentangle the respective intake of resources from terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems 15, 16 and may even reveal the contribution of plants to the human diet that is generally not detectable through bulk isotopic data 17, 18 . Phenylalanine (Phe) and glutamic acid (Glu) were specifically examined since the Phe 15 N abundances reflect the local baseline (small trophic 15 N-enrichment of 0.4 ± 0.4‰), while Glu 15 N abundances depend not only on the baseline but also on the trophic position (large trophic 15 N-enrichment of 8.0 ± 1.1‰) 19–21 .…”

Are Lithics and Fauna a Match Made in (Prehistoric) Heaven?

“…A high-protein, meat-based diet would have severe effects on pregnant Neanderthal females and thus be unfavorable to the population's reproductive success (Hockett 2012), which is inconsistent with Neanderthal prolonged survival in Europe. Furthermore, current evidence from a number of case studies suggests that Neanderthals enjoyed a relatively variable diet, incorporating plant and possibly aquatic resources (e.g., El Zaatari et al 2011;Henry et al 2014;Krueger et al 2017;Lev et al 2005;Madella et al 2002;Naito et al 2016;Weyrich et al 2017).…”