They became what they ate: The use of novel isotope techniques for greater insight into Neanderthal dietary choices in Western European Middle Palaeolithic

The issue of H. neanderthalensis’ diet has long been a debate between archaeologists, with interpretations ranging from faunal assemblages in neanderthal sites, stable isotope analysis, cooking evidence, and studies of dental calculus. Traditional isotope research has focused on the δ13C or δ15N isotopic signature is based on the use of collagen found in bone, however it suffers the problem of easy degradation in deep time. The introduction of novel isotope techniques focused on the signatures of δ42/44Ca and δ66Zn can bypass this problem due to samples being extracted directly onto bone and enamel, thus decreasing the chances of lacking evidence and presenting similar and accurate results in dietary research. However, results position species into trophic levels and lack data on plant consumption, thus presenting H. neanderthalensis as a nearly exclusive carnivore in the hominin lineage. The objective of this thesis is a comprehensive review of the literature to study the...Show moreThe issue of H. neanderthalensis’ diet has long been a debate between archaeologists, with interpretations ranging from faunal assemblages in neanderthal sites, stable isotope analysis, cooking evidence, and studies of dental calculus. Traditional isotope research has focused on the δ13C or δ15N isotopic signature is based on the use of collagen found in bone, however it suffers the problem of easy degradation in deep time. The introduction of novel isotope techniques focused on the signatures of δ42/44Ca and δ66Zn can bypass this problem due to samples being extracted directly onto bone and enamel, thus decreasing the chances of lacking evidence and presenting similar and accurate results in dietary research. However, results position species into trophic levels and lack data on plant consumption, thus presenting H. neanderthalensis as a nearly exclusive carnivore in the hominin lineage. The objective of this thesis is a comprehensive review of the literature to study the feasibility of adopting such techniques into the research mainstream and the consequences that this would entail. Furthermore, techniques such as biomolecular analysis of dental calculus and faunal assemblages that refer directly to dietary habits and tendencies are both explored and used as proxies for increasing accuracy. While the scope of this thesis has significant limitations to fully asses dietary research techniques used for analysis of middle palaeolithic European neanderthals, the comprehensive review of the latest published literature and a comparative approach between different research methods aims to produce an accurate assessment of both novel isotope techniques and H. neanderthalensis diets.Show less

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They became what they ate: The use of novel isotope techniques for greater insight into Neanderthal dietary choices in Western European Middle Palaeolithic