The omnivorous Tyrolean Iceman: colon contents (meat, cereals, pollen, moss and whipworm) and stable isotope analyses

Abstract

The contents of the colon of the Tyrolean Iceman who lived ca. 5300 years ago include muscle fibres, cereal remains, a diversity of pollen, and most notably that of the hop hornbeam (Ostrya carpinifolia) retaining cellular contents, as well as a moss leaf (Neckera complanata) and eggs of the parasitic whipworm (Trichuris trichiura). Based almost solely on stable isotope analyses and ignoring the work on the colon contents, two recently published papers on the Iceman's diet draw ill-founded conclusions about vegetarianism and even veganism. Neither the pollen nor the moss is likely to have been deliberately consumed as food by the Iceman. All the available evidence concerning the Iceman's broad-based diet is reviewed and the significance of the colon contents for matters other than assessment of food intake is outlined.

New radiological insights into the life and death of the Tyrolean Iceman

“…On the basis of stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes from the Iceman's hair, as well as the high degree of dental abrasion (typical of a high level of plant fibre in the food), Macko et al (1999) drew the conclusion that the Iceman maintained a predominantly vegetarian (or even vegan) diet. However, the colon contents were shown to contain meat remnants (Dickson et al, 2000), providing the first contradiction to the vegetarian hypothesis. It could be argued that the alimentary tract contents represent only a momentary image and not the long-term nutritional habits.…”

Critique: Measuring Hydrogen Stable Isotope Abundance of Proteins to Infer Origins of Wildlife, Food and People

“…Similarly, knowing the spatial patterns of stable isotopes in food webs enabled biologists to track the origins of the migratory Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) in North America [7,8]. After these proof-of-principles had been demonstrated, the use of tissue isotope values as proxies for geographic history or dietary locale were soon extended to other migratory species that were notoriously difficult to study by observation alone, such as birds [1,[9][10][11][12], whales [13,14], and in ancient [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23] and modern humans [24][25][26][27][28][29][30].…”

Ötzi's last meals: DNA analysis of the intestinal content of the Neolithic glacier mummy from the Alps

“…Fig. 5 shows the colon and the ileum animal consensus sequences within a phylogeny of the Pecora infraorder (see also Table 2) the results of our DNA analysis with those of previous ones performed by using light and electron microscopy (3,4). The first show that the plant 18S rDNA spectrum of the colon is dominated (73%) by the DNA of conifers, followed (22%) by that of cereals (Triticeae) and (5%) of ferns (Filicales).…”

“…4). The presence of muscle fibers in the colon, on the other hand, had been previously reported (3,4). To identify the species of provenance, we PCR amplified the DNA extracted from the ileum and colon samples by using the MbosL1269͞H1346 oligonucleotide primer pair.…”

“…During the last 10 years, the body and equipment have been the object of a number of anthropological, paleopathological, and ethnological investigations. In particular, samples of the colon content were analyzed by paleobotanists (3,4). Very recently, the scientific world and the media were thrilled by the discovery of a stone arrowhead still stuck in the left shoulder of the mummy, a find that led to a rethinking of the possible cause of death of the hunter͞warrior, previously attributed to freezing.…”