The Ice Age diet of the La Quina 5 Neandertal of southwest France

Williams, Frank; Schmidt, Christopher W.; Henry, Amanda G.; Discamps, Emmanuel; Droke, Jessica L.; Becam, Gaël; Lumley, Marie‐Antoinette de

doi:10.1016/j.anthro.2022.103056

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 65 publications

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“…Neanderthals have generally been understood as specialised big‐game hunters who relied heavily on meat (Bocherens, 2009; Richards et al, 2008; Jaouen et al, 2022). However, research has revealed remarkable flexibility in Neanderthals’ choice of food resources, which included plants and also marine resources in Mediterranean habitats (Henry et al, 2011, 2014; Salazar‐García et al, 2013, 2021; L'Engle Williams et al, 2022). AMH, by contrast, have long been known to have exploited a wide spectrum of food resources including small game, birds, aquatic and marine resources, and diverse plant foods (Richards et al, 2001; Stiner, 2001).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Herbivore enamel carbon and oxygen isotopes demonstrate both Homo sapiens and Neanderthals exploited similar habitats in the Zagros Mountains

Ecker,

Hariri,

Heydari‐Guran

et al. 2023

J Quaternary Science

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The extinction of Neanderthal populations has been attributed to the onset of cold and dry climatic conditions during Marine Isotope Stage 3 or their competition with anatomically modern humans for large game resources. However, decoupling climate from competition has long proved difficult. Loess sequences and pollen cores provide regional‐scale environmental information but are less well‐suited to providing local‐scale habitat information contemporaneous with hominin habitation of occupation sites. The relationship between climate and resource availability is particularly unknown in the Zagros mountain range where archaeological evidence for both Neanderthals and Homo sapiens occupation is documented. Here, we analyse carbon (δ13C) and oxygen (δ18O) stable isotopes measured from herbivore tooth enamel carbonates recovered from the Neanderthal and modern human occupation sites of Bawa Yawan Rockshelter and Shanidar Cave to trace local‐scale floral biome dynamics and climate conditions that influence the distribution and availability of large prey targeted by both hominin species. Shared isotopic composition of herbivorous fauna, largely represented by wild goats, from both sites spanning Neanderthal and Homo sapiens occupation indicate both hominin species exploited similar habitats during climatically similar phases.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Herbivore enamel carbon and oxygen isotopes demonstrate both Homo sapiens and Neanderthals exploited similar habitats in the Zagros Mountains

Ecker,

Hariri,

Heydari‐Guran

et al. 2023

J Quaternary Science

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Reverse-engineering the Venus figurines: An eco-life-course hypothesis for the aetiology of obesity in the Palaeolithic

Wells,

Williams,

Desoye

2024

Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health

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Evolutionary perspectives on obesity have been dominated by genetic frameworks, but plastic responses are also central to its aetiology. While often considered a relatively modern phenomenon, obesity was recorded during the Palaeolithic through small statuettes of the female form (Venus figurines). Even if the phenotype was rare, these statuettes indicate that some women achieved large body size during the last glacial maximum, a period of nutritional stress. To explore this paradox, we develop an eco-life-course conceptual framework that integrates the effects of dietary transitions with intergenerational biological mechanisms. We assume that Palaeolithic populations exposed to glaciations had high lean mass and high dietary protein requirements. We draw on the protein-leverage hypothesis, which posits that low-protein diets drive over-consumption of energy to satisfy protein needs. We review evidence for an increasing contribution of plant foods to diets as the last glacial maximum occurred, assumed to reduce dietary protein content. We consider physiological mechanisms through which maternal overweight impacts obesity susceptibility of the offspring during pregnancy. Integrating this evidence, we suggest that the last glacial maximum decreased dietary protein content and drove protein-leverage, increasing body weight in a process that amplified across generations. Through the interaction of these mechanisms with environmental change, obesity could have developed among women with susceptible genotypes, reflecting broader trade-offs between linear growth and adiposity and shifts in the population distribution of weight. Our approach may stimulate bioarchaeologists and paleoanthropologists to examine paleo-obesity in greater detail, and to draw upon the tenets of human biology to interpret evidence.

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The diet of young Neandertals from France, Pech de l’Azé I and Hortus II, reconstructed using dental microwear texture analysis

L’Engle Williams,

Schmidt,

Droke

et al. 2023

bmsap

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The Ice Age diet of the La Quina 5 Neandertal of southwest France

Cited by 3 publications

References 65 publications

Herbivore enamel carbon and oxygen isotopes demonstrate both Homo sapiens and Neanderthals exploited similar habitats in the Zagros Mountains

Herbivore enamel carbon and oxygen isotopes demonstrate both Homo sapiens and Neanderthals exploited similar habitats in the Zagros Mountains

Reverse-engineering the Venus figurines: An eco-life-course hypothesis for the aetiology of obesity in the Palaeolithic

The diet of young Neandertals from France, Pech de l’Azé I and Hortus II, reconstructed using dental microwear texture analysis

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