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Moubtahij Z, McCormack J, Bourgon N, Trost M, Sinet-Mathiot V, Fuller BT, Smith GM, Temming H, Steinbrenner S, Hublin JJ, Bouzouggar A, Turner E, Jaouen K. Isotopic evidence of high reliance on plant food among Later Stone Age hunter-gatherers at Taforalt, Morocco. Nat Ecol Evol 2024; 8:1035-1045. [PMID: 38684738 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-024-02382-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2023] [Accepted: 03/01/2024] [Indexed: 05/02/2024]
Abstract
The transition from hunting-gathering to agriculture stands as one of the most important dietary revolutions in human history. Yet, due to a scarcity of well-preserved human remains from Pleistocene sites, little is known about the dietary practices of pre-agricultural human groups. Here we present the isotopic evidence of pronounced plant reliance among Late Stone Age hunter-gatherers from North Africa (15,000-13,000 cal BP), predating the advent of agriculture by several millennia. Employing a comprehensive multi-isotopic approach, we conducted zinc (δ66Zn) and strontium (87Sr/86Sr) analysis on dental enamel, bulk carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) and sulfur (δ34S) isotope analysis on dentin and bone collagen, and single amino acid analysis on human and faunal remains from Taforalt (Morocco). Our results unequivocally demonstrate a substantial plant-based component in the diets of these hunter-gatherers. This distinct dietary pattern challenges the prevailing notion of high reliance on animal proteins among pre-agricultural human groups. It also raises intriguing questions surrounding the absence of agricultural development in North Africa during the early Holocene. This study underscores the importance of investigating dietary practices during the transition to agriculture and provides insights into the complexities of human subsistence strategies across different regions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zineb Moubtahij
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany.
- Géosciences Environnement Toulouse, UMR 5563, CNRS, Observatoire Midi Pyrénées, Toulouse, France.
| | - Jeremy McCormack
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Goethe University Frankfurt, Institute of Geosciences, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Nicolas Bourgon
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- IsoTROPIC Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Geoanthropology, Jena, Germany
| | - Manuel Trost
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Virginie Sinet-Mathiot
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- PACEA, UMR 5199, CNRS, Université de Bordeaux, Ministère de la Culture, Pessac, France
- CBMN, UMR 5248 and Bordeaux Proteome Platform, Bordeaux INP, CNRS, Université de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France
| | - Benjamin T Fuller
- Géosciences Environnement Toulouse, UMR 5563, CNRS, Observatoire Midi Pyrénées, Toulouse, France
| | - Geoff M Smith
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK
| | - Heiko Temming
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Sven Steinbrenner
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Jean-Jacques Hublin
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Chaire de Paléoanthropologie, CIRB (UMR 7241-U1050), Collège de France, Paris, France
| | - Abdeljalil Bouzouggar
- Institut National des Sciences de l'Archéologie et du Patrimoine, Origin and Evolution of Homo Sapiens Cultures, Rabat, Morocco
- Department of Archaeogenetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Elaine Turner
- Monrepos Archaeological Research Centre and Museum for Human Behavioural Evolution, LEIZA, Neuwied, Germany
| | - Klervia Jaouen
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Géosciences Environnement Toulouse, UMR 5563, CNRS, Observatoire Midi Pyrénées, Toulouse, France
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Roditi E, Bocherens H, Konidaris GE, Athanassiou A, Tourloukis V, Karkanas P, Panagopoulou E, Harvati K. Life-history of Palaeoloxodon antiquus reveals Middle Pleistocene glacial refugium in the Megalopolis basin, Greece. Sci Rep 2024; 14:1390. [PMID: 38228659 PMCID: PMC10791645 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-51592-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2023] [Accepted: 01/07/2024] [Indexed: 01/18/2024] Open
Abstract
The Balkans are considered a major glacial refugium where flora and fauna survived glacial periods and repopulated the rest of Europe during interglacials. While it is also thought to have harboured Pleistocene human populations, evidence linking human activity, paleoenvironmental indicators and a secure temporal placement to glacial periods is scant. Here, we present the first intra-tooth multi-isotope analysis for the European straight-tusked elephant Palaeoloxodon antiquus, on an adult male individual excavated in association with lithic artefacts at the MIS 12 site Marathousa 1 (Megalopolis basin, Greece). The studied find also exhibits anthropogenic modifications, providing direct evidence of hominin presence. We employed strontium, carbon and oxygen isotope analysis on enamel bioapatite to investigate its foraging and mobility behaviour, using a sequential sampling strategy along the tooth growth axis of the third upper molar, to assess ecological changes during the last decade of life. We found a geographically restricted range, in a C3-dominated open woodland environment, and relatively stable conditions over the examined timeframe. Our results show that, despite the severity of the MIS 12 glacial, the Megalopolis basin sustained a mesic habitat, sufficient plant cover and limited seasonal fluctuations in resource availability, pointing to its role as a glacial refugium for both fauna and hominins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Effrosyni Roditi
- Paleoanthropology, Institute for Archaeological Sciences, Department of Geosciences, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Hervé Bocherens
- Biogeology, Department of Geosciences, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Paleoenvironment, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - George E Konidaris
- Paleoanthropology, Institute for Archaeological Sciences, Department of Geosciences, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Paleoenvironment, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | | | - Vangelis Tourloukis
- Paleoanthropology, Institute for Archaeological Sciences, Department of Geosciences, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- Department of History and Archaeology, School of Philosophy, University of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece
| | - Panagiotis Karkanas
- M.H. Wiener Laboratory for Archaeological Science, American School of Classical Studies, Athens, Greece
| | - Eleni Panagopoulou
- Hellenic Ministry of Culture, Ephorate of Paleoanthropology-Speleology, Athens, Greece
| | - Katerina Harvati
- Paleoanthropology, Institute for Archaeological Sciences, Department of Geosciences, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
- Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Paleoenvironment, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
- DFG Centre for Advanced Studies 'Words, Bones, Genes, Tools', Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
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Reade H, Tripp JA, Frémondeau D, Sayle KL, Higham TFG, Street M, Stevens RE. Nitrogen palaeo-isoscapes: Changing spatial gradients of faunal δ15N in late Pleistocene and early Holocene Europe. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0268607. [PMID: 36745587 PMCID: PMC9901814 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0268607] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2022] [Accepted: 01/22/2023] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Nitrogen isotope ratio analysis (δ15N) of animal tissue is widely used in archaeology and palaeoecology to investigate diet and ecological niche. Data interpretations require an understanding of nitrogen isotope compositions at the base of the food web (baseline δ15N). Significant variation in animal δ15N has been recognised at various spatiotemporal scales and related to changes both in baseline δ15N, linked to environmental and climatic influence on the terrestrial nitrogen cycle, and animal ecology. Isoscapes (models of isotope spatial variation) have proved a useful tool for investigating spatial variability in biogeochemical cycles in present-day marine and terrestrial ecosystems, but so far, their application to palaeo-data has been more limited. Here, we present time-sliced nitrogen isoscapes for late Pleistocene and early Holocene Europe (c. 50,000 to 10,000 years BP) using herbivore collagen δ15N data. This period covers the Last Glacial-Interglacial Transition, during which significant variation in the terrestrial nitrogen cycle occurred. We use generalized linear mixed modelling approaches for interpolation and test models which both include and exclude climate covariate data. Our results show clear changes in spatial gradients of δ15N through time. Prediction of the lowest faunal δ15N values in northern latitudes after, rather than during, the Last Glacial Maximum is consistent with the Late Glacial Nitrogen Excursion (LGNE). We find that including climatic covariate data does not significantly improve model performance. These findings have implications for investigating the drivers of the LGNE, which has been linked to increased landscape moisture and permafrost thaw, and for understanding changing isotopic baselines, which are fundamental for studies investigating diets, niche partitioning, and migration of higher trophic level animals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hazel Reade
- UCL Institute of Archaeology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
- * E-mail:
| | - Jennifer A. Tripp
- UCL Institute of Archaeology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Delphine Frémondeau
- UCL Institute of Archaeology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Kerry L. Sayle
- Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre, Glasgow, United Kingdom
| | - Thomas F. G. Higham
- Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Martin Street
- Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum, Forschungsinstitut für Archäologie Kompetenzbereich Pleistozäne und Frühholozäne Archäologie, Neuwied, Germany
| | - Rhiannon E. Stevens
- UCL Institute of Archaeology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
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