Anthropology Stable Isotope Evidence for Increasing Dietary Breadth in the European Mid-upper Paleolithic

New carbon and nitrogen stable isotope values for human remains dating to the mid-Upper Paleolithic in Europe indicate significant amounts of aquatic (fish, mollusks, and/or birds) foods in some of their diets. Most of this evidence points to exploitation of inland freshwater aquatic resources in particular. By contrast, European Neanderthal collagen carbon and nitrogen stable isotope values do not indicate significant use of inland aquatic foods but instead show that they obtained the majority of their protein from terrestrial herbivores. In agreement with recent zooarcheological analyses, the isotope results indicate shifts toward a more broad-spectrum subsistence economy in inland Europe by the mid-Upper Paleolithic period, probably associated with significant population increases. THESE AUTHORS ALSO NOTE: " It is possible to assess the relative proportion of aquatic resources in the diets of prehistoric foragers and coextant animals through analyses of bone collagen carbon (13C) and nitrogen (15N) stable isotope values. " Such isotope data can reflect the proportionality of the kinds of foodstuffs obtained from dietary habitats such as freshwater wetlands, sea coasts, and dry terrestrial landscapes. By the late Upper Paleolithic period, evidence indicates a substantial broadening of human diets in several regions of the Old World. The authors analyzed the collagen extracted from nine modern human skeletons dating to the mid-Upper Paleolithic period in Europe and west-central Asia, and compared it to 5 Neanderthals from the same geographic region.