Upper Palaeolithic hunter-gatherer subsistence in Mediterranean coastal environments: an isotopic study of the diets of the earliest directly-dated humans from Sicily

Abstract

a b s t r a c tThe subsistence of hunter-gatherers in the Mediterranean Basin has been the object of few studies, which have not fully clarified the role of aquatic resources in their diets. Here we present the results of AMS radiocarbon dating and of isotope analyses on the earliest directly-dated human remains from Sicily, the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. The radiocarbon determinations show that the Upper Palaeolithic (Epigravettian) humans from Grotta di San Teodoro (15 232e14 126 cal. BP) and Grotta Addaura Caprara (16 060e15 007 cal. BP) date to the Late-glacial and were possibly contemporary. The diets of these individuals were dominated by the protein of large terrestrial mammalian herbivores, such as red deer (Cervus elaphus). There is no evidence for the consumption of marine resources, which is probably the result not only of the oligotrophic nature of the Mediterranean, but also perhaps of the lack of adequate technology for exploiting intensively the resources from this sea. In spite of being contemporaneous and of the cultural and technological affinities present between the San Teodoro and Addaura humans, the carbon (d 13 C) and nitrogen (d 15 N) isotope composition of their bone collagen suggests that significant differences were present in their diets. In particular, the hunter-gatherers from Grotta di San Teodoro, in NE Sicily where coastal plains are backed by high mountain chains (Monti Nebrodi), probably had easy access to resources such as anadromous brown trout (Salmo trutta), which might not have been similarly available in the NW of the island, where reliefs are noticeably lower and watercourses fewer and farther between. This study shows that the high biodiversity of this region, which results from the complex topography of Mediterranean landscapes, was probably exploited opportunistically by Lateglacial foragers. Our data also suggest that intensification and diversification of food acquisition in Sicily did not start in the closing stages of the late Pleistocene, as in other Mediterranean regions, probably because the island had only been (re-)colonized by humans around the Last Glacial Maximum.

Origin and Diet of the Prehistoric Hunter-Gatherers on the Mediterranean Island of Favignana (Ègadi Islands, Sicily)

“…This complex dates to around the Last Glacial Maximum and includes species such as Equus hydruntinus (European ass) that would have required a land bridge connection in order to reach Sicily [70]. Our findings could also imply that AMH reached Sicily relatively late in the Upper Palaeolithic, casting further doubt on the attribution of Riparo di Fontana Nuova to the Aurignacian culture [71], a claim unsupported by absolute dating and disputed on typological grounds [8], [28]. The scenario we propose is a working hypothesis, given that only further palaeogenetic studies can confirm whether HV haplogroups are representative of those of the first AMH that migrated to Sicily.…”

“…The low-level consumption of marine foods by Oriente B and C is analogous to that verified, through isotope analyses, on other late Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic humans from Sicily [5], [8]–[9] and most areas of the Mediterranean [5]–[6]. On the other hand, the slightly higher δ 13 C ratio of Oriente × is similar to those of a few individuals from El Collado (Spain), Vela Spilja – Vela Luka (Croatia) and Corsica, who acquired about a fifth or more of their protein from the sea [7], [10]–[11].…”

“…This individual was part of groups of hunter-gatherers that were the makers of Gravettian and, after the Last Glacial Maximum, Epigravettian lithic industries [65]. The first undisputed colonization of Sicily has been linked to Epigravettian groups that must have crossed what is now the Strait of Messina sometime after the Last Glacial Maximum, given that no stratified site on the island dates to before that time [8], [28], [66]. The attribution of individual Oriente B to the HV-1 haplogroup might, therefore, tentatively be interpreted as further evidence in favour of the descendance of the early Holocene hunter-gatherers of Sicily, as well as those from Favignana, from the human groups that occupied southern Italy before (Gravettian) and after (Epigravettian) the Last Glacial Maximum [64]–[65].…”

Interrelationship of age and diet in Romania’s oldest human burial

“…The Climente II burial thus joins a small group of directly dated LUP burials from the Bølling-Allerød Interstadial (cf. Craig et al 2010;Pettitt 2010;Mannino et al 2011) and is currently the only such burial from Southeast Europe. The C-and N-isotope results add to the growing evidence that inland aquatic foods were important in the diets of some European Upper Palaeolithic groups (cf.…”

Bananas: Origins and Development

“…However, for Mesolithic sites on the Atlantic coast, including Portugal and Spain, isotope studies have shown that seafood was a major part of the diet (e.g., Richards & Hedges 1999). In contrast, an early study using both stable isotope and elemental analysis on Mesolithic coastal sites of Arene Candide in Liguria and Grotta dell'Uzzo in Sicily (Francalacci 1989;Mannino et al 2011) (Tafuri et al 2009) and Iron Age at sites in Greece and Slovenia (Murray & Schoeninger 1988). …”