Cargando…

Exceptionally high δ(15)N values in collagen single amino acids confirm Neandertals as high-trophic level carnivores

Isotope and archeological analyses of Paleolithic food webs have suggested that Neandertal subsistence relied mainly on the consumption of large herbivores. This conclusion was primarily based on elevated nitrogen isotope ratios in Neandertal bone collagen and has been significantly debated. This di...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Jaouen, Klervia, Richards, Michael P., Le Cabec, Adeline, Welker, Frido, Rendu, William, Hublin, Jean-Jacques, Soressi, Marie, Talamo, Sahra
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: National Academy of Sciences 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6421459/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30782806
http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1814087116
_version_ 1783404237139476480
author Jaouen, Klervia
Richards, Michael P.
Le Cabec, Adeline
Welker, Frido
Rendu, William
Hublin, Jean-Jacques
Soressi, Marie
Talamo, Sahra
author_facet Jaouen, Klervia
Richards, Michael P.
Le Cabec, Adeline
Welker, Frido
Rendu, William
Hublin, Jean-Jacques
Soressi, Marie
Talamo, Sahra
author_sort Jaouen, Klervia
collection PubMed
description Isotope and archeological analyses of Paleolithic food webs have suggested that Neandertal subsistence relied mainly on the consumption of large herbivores. This conclusion was primarily based on elevated nitrogen isotope ratios in Neandertal bone collagen and has been significantly debated. This discussion relies on the observation that similar high nitrogen isotopes values could also be the result of the consumption of mammoths, young animals, putrid meat, cooked food, freshwater fish, carnivores, or mushrooms. Recently, compound-specific C and N isotope analyses of bone collagen amino acids have been demonstrated to add significantly more information about trophic levels and aquatic food consumption. We undertook single amino acid C and N isotope analysis on two Neandertals, which were characterized by exceptionally high N isotope ratios in their bulk bone or tooth collagen. We report here both C and N isotope ratios on single amino acids of collagen samples for these two Neandertals and associated fauna. The samples come from two sites dating to the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition period (Les Cottés and Grotte du Renne, France). Our results reinforce the interpretation of Neandertal dietary adaptations as successful top-level carnivores, even after the arrival of modern humans in Europe. They also demonstrate that high δ(15)N values of bone collagen can solely be explained by mammal meat consumption, as supported by archeological and zooarcheological evidence, without necessarily invoking explanations including the processing of food (cooking, fermenting), the consumption of mammoths or young mammals, or additional (freshwater fish, mushrooms) dietary protein sources.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-6421459
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2019
publisher National Academy of Sciences
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-64214592019-03-19 Exceptionally high δ(15)N values in collagen single amino acids confirm Neandertals as high-trophic level carnivores Jaouen, Klervia Richards, Michael P. Le Cabec, Adeline Welker, Frido Rendu, William Hublin, Jean-Jacques Soressi, Marie Talamo, Sahra Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A Biological Sciences Isotope and archeological analyses of Paleolithic food webs have suggested that Neandertal subsistence relied mainly on the consumption of large herbivores. This conclusion was primarily based on elevated nitrogen isotope ratios in Neandertal bone collagen and has been significantly debated. This discussion relies on the observation that similar high nitrogen isotopes values could also be the result of the consumption of mammoths, young animals, putrid meat, cooked food, freshwater fish, carnivores, or mushrooms. Recently, compound-specific C and N isotope analyses of bone collagen amino acids have been demonstrated to add significantly more information about trophic levels and aquatic food consumption. We undertook single amino acid C and N isotope analysis on two Neandertals, which were characterized by exceptionally high N isotope ratios in their bulk bone or tooth collagen. We report here both C and N isotope ratios on single amino acids of collagen samples for these two Neandertals and associated fauna. The samples come from two sites dating to the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition period (Les Cottés and Grotte du Renne, France). Our results reinforce the interpretation of Neandertal dietary adaptations as successful top-level carnivores, even after the arrival of modern humans in Europe. They also demonstrate that high δ(15)N values of bone collagen can solely be explained by mammal meat consumption, as supported by archeological and zooarcheological evidence, without necessarily invoking explanations including the processing of food (cooking, fermenting), the consumption of mammoths or young mammals, or additional (freshwater fish, mushrooms) dietary protein sources. National Academy of Sciences 2019-03-12 2019-02-19 /pmc/articles/PMC6421459/ /pubmed/30782806 http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1814087116 Text en Copyright © 2019 the Author(s). Published by PNAS. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ This open access article is distributed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License 4.0 (CC BY-NC-ND) (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) .
spellingShingle Biological Sciences
Jaouen, Klervia
Richards, Michael P.
Le Cabec, Adeline
Welker, Frido
Rendu, William
Hublin, Jean-Jacques
Soressi, Marie
Talamo, Sahra
Exceptionally high δ(15)N values in collagen single amino acids confirm Neandertals as high-trophic level carnivores
title Exceptionally high δ(15)N values in collagen single amino acids confirm Neandertals as high-trophic level carnivores
title_full Exceptionally high δ(15)N values in collagen single amino acids confirm Neandertals as high-trophic level carnivores
title_fullStr Exceptionally high δ(15)N values in collagen single amino acids confirm Neandertals as high-trophic level carnivores
title_full_unstemmed Exceptionally high δ(15)N values in collagen single amino acids confirm Neandertals as high-trophic level carnivores
title_short Exceptionally high δ(15)N values in collagen single amino acids confirm Neandertals as high-trophic level carnivores
title_sort exceptionally high δ(15)n values in collagen single amino acids confirm neandertals as high-trophic level carnivores
topic Biological Sciences
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6421459/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30782806
http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1814087116
work_keys_str_mv AT jaouenklervia exceptionallyhighd15nvaluesincollagensingleaminoacidsconfirmneandertalsashightrophiclevelcarnivores
AT richardsmichaelp exceptionallyhighd15nvaluesincollagensingleaminoacidsconfirmneandertalsashightrophiclevelcarnivores
AT lecabecadeline exceptionallyhighd15nvaluesincollagensingleaminoacidsconfirmneandertalsashightrophiclevelcarnivores
AT welkerfrido exceptionallyhighd15nvaluesincollagensingleaminoacidsconfirmneandertalsashightrophiclevelcarnivores
AT renduwilliam exceptionallyhighd15nvaluesincollagensingleaminoacidsconfirmneandertalsashightrophiclevelcarnivores
AT hublinjeanjacques exceptionallyhighd15nvaluesincollagensingleaminoacidsconfirmneandertalsashightrophiclevelcarnivores
AT soressimarie exceptionallyhighd15nvaluesincollagensingleaminoacidsconfirmneandertalsashightrophiclevelcarnivores
AT talamosahra exceptionallyhighd15nvaluesincollagensingleaminoacidsconfirmneandertalsashightrophiclevelcarnivores