new techniques of zinc isotope analysis in a tooth have revealed that Neanderthals incorporated meat into their diet.
Scientists have been debating the carnivorous condition of our extinct sister species. While some studies of dental tartar of individuals from the Iberian Peninsula seem to show that they were great consumers of plants, Other investigations carried out in deposits outside Iberia seem to suggest that They ate almost nothing but meat.
a new study led by a researcher at the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), in France, has shown that Neanderthals from the Gabasa site (Spain) seem to have been carnivores. The finding is published in PNAS.
Until now, to determine an individual’s position in the food chain, scientists had to extract proteins and analyze the nitrogen isotopes present in bone collagen. However, this method can often only be used in temperate environments, and only rarely on samples older than 50,000 years. When these conditions are not met, the analysis of nitrogen isotopes is very complex, or even impossible. This was the case of the molar from the Gabasa deposit analyzed in this study.
Given these limitations, Klevia Jaouen, a CNRS researcher, and her colleagues, including scientists from the University of Zaragoza and the Max Planck Institute (Germany), decided to analyze the proportions of zinc isotopes present in tooth enamel, a mineral resistant to any form of degradation.
It is the first time that this method has been used to try to identify the diet of a Neanderthal. The lower the zinc isotope ratios in the bones, the more likely they belong to a carnivore.
The analysis was also carried out with animal bones from the same period and geographical area, including carnivores such as lynxes and wolves, and herbivores such as rabbits and chamois. The results showed that the Neanderthal to which this tooth from the Gabasa site belonged was probably a carnivore that did not consume the blood of its prey.
Broken bones found at the site, along with isotopic data, indicate that this individual also ate the bone marrow of its prey, without consuming the bones, while other chemical tracers show that it was weaned before two years of age. The analyzes also show that this Neanderthal probably died in the same place where he had lived as a child.
Compared with previous techniques, this new zinc isotope analysis method facilitate at distinction between omnivores and carnivores. To confirm their conclusions, the scientists hope to repeat the experiment with individuals from other sites, especially the Payre site in southeastern France, where further research is underway.