Diet and environment 1.2 million years ago revealed through analysis of dental calculus from Europe’s oldest hominin at Sima del Elefante, Spain

Abstract

Sima del Elefante, Atapuerca, Spain contains one of the earliest hominin fragments yet known in Europe, dating to 1.2 Ma. Dental calculus from a hominin molar was removed, degraded and analysed to recover entrapped remains. Evidence for plant use at this time is very limited and this study has revealed the earliest direct evidence for foods consumed in the genus Homo. This comprises starchy carbohydrates from two plants, including a species of grass from the Triticeae or Bromideae tribe, meat and plant fibres. All food was eaten raw, and there is no evidence for processing of the starch granules which are intact and undamaged. Additional biographical detail includes fragments of non-edible wood found adjacent to an interproximal groove suggesting oral hygiene activities, while plant fibres may be linked to raw material processing. Environmental evidence comprises spores, insect fragments and conifer pollen grains which are consistent with a forested environment.

Archaeological Starch

“…Table 1 shows the archaeological time periods referred to in this article. provided evidence of plant use in archaeological contexts, for example: agricultural beginnings and plant domestication [19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38]; hominin and pre-agricultural human diet and ancient technologies [39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53]; prehistoric chimpanzee food processing and diet [54]; environmental reconstruction [55]. Table 1 shows the archaeological time periods referred to in this article.…”

“…Nevertheless, in certain cases, it may be possible to identify a general plant source. For example, seeds of wheat, barley and rye have a distinctive bimodal distribution and it was possible to infer an origin from a related ancestral grass species when both large and small granules were seen together in the same sample [46]. In general, while the presence of starch granules in archaeological materials can indicate consumption of starchy foods, identification of plant origin is problematic.…”

“…Starch has been found in samples of dental calculus ranging from Lower Palaeolithic hominins to Victorians [41][42][43][44][45][46][47], including from sources as diverse as Norse Shetland (Scotland), pre-Mesolithic Sudan [44], from chimpanzees [56] early Balkan agricultural populations [81] and from tropical environments [53,82]. Recovery of data on the use of plants, particularly for the early stages of the Palaeolithic, is very limited [83].…”

Exaggerated expectations in ancient starch research and the need for new taphonomic and authenticity criteria

“…These studies focused mainly on sites from the Americas and Australasia, and established the extraction, detection, description, and identification methods currently in use. Since then, dozens of articles have appeared in the field of archaeology on the pervasive, but little understood, presence of starch recovered from tools, sediments, and recently, dental calculus Piperno 2008, 2011;Hardy et al 2009Hardy et al , 2012Hardy et al , 2016Salazar-García et al 2013). …”

Pleistocene dental calculus: Recovering information on Paleolithic food items, medicines, paleoenvironment and microbes

“…8 Alternaria‐type spore. 9 Lepidoptera wing fragment (from with permission). Scale bar 20 μm [ColoUr figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]…”