Microfossils in calculus demonstrate consumption of plants and cooked foods in Neanderthal diets (Shanidar III, Iraq; Spy I and II, Belgium)
Microfossils in calculus demonstrate consumption of plants and cooked foods in Neanderthal diets (Shanidar III, Iraq; Spy I and II, Belgium)
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DOI：
10.1073/pnas.1016868108
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发表时间：
2011-01-11
影响因子：
11.1
通讯作者：
Piperno, Dolores R.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Henry, Amanda G.;Brooks, Alison S.;Piperno, Dolores R.
尼安德特人消失的性质和原因以及他们显然被现代人取代的问题引起了相当大的争论。许多研究人员提出，这两个群体之间的饮食差异是尼安德特人消失的根本原因之一，这是生物或技术因素造成的。一些情景的重点是尼安德特人饮食中明显缺乏植物食物。在这里，我们报告了尼安德特人食用各种植物食物的直接证据，其中包括从伊拉克沙尼达洞和比利时间谍洞中提取的尼安德特人骨骼的牙石中提取的植硅体和淀粉颗粒。其中一些植物是现代人类饮食的典型代表，包括枣树(凤凰科)、豆类和草籽(小麦科)，而另一些已知可以食用，但今天并不大量使用。许多草籽淀粉都出现了损坏，这是烹饪的一个明显标志。我们的结果表明，在温暖的地中海东部和寒冷的欧洲西北部气候中，以及在他们的纬度范围内，尼安德特人利用当地环境中提供的各种植物食物，部分通过烹饪将它们转变为更容易消化的食物，这表明尼安德特人的饮食制度总体上是复杂的。
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.