Diet and environment 1.2 million years ago revealed through analysis of dental calculus from Europe’s oldest hominin at Sima del Elefante, Spain

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• 作者：Karen Hardy ; Anita Radini ; Stephen Buckley ; Ruth Blasco…
• 关键词：Human evolution ; Sima del Elefante ; Atapuerca ; Dental calculus ; Diet ; Microfossils ; Paleoenvironment
• 刊名：The Science of Nature
• 出版年：2017
• 出版时间：February 2017
• 年：2017
• 卷：104
• 期：1-2
• 全文大小：
• 刊物类别：Biomedical and Life Sciences
• 刊物主题：Life Sciences, general; Environment, general;
• 出版者：Springer Berlin Heidelberg
• ISSN：1432-1904
• 卷排序：104

文摘

Sima del Elefante, Atapuerca, Spain contains one of the earliest hominin fragments yet known in Europe, dating to 1.2 Ma. Dental calculus from a hominin molar was removed, degraded and analysed to recover entrapped remains. Evidence for plant use at this time is very limited and this study has revealed the earliest direct evidence for foods consumed in the genus Homo. This comprises starchy carbohydrates from two plants, including a species of grass from the Triticeae or Bromideae tribe, meat and plant fibres. All food was eaten raw, and there is no evidence for processing of the starch granules which are intact and undamaged. Additional biographical detail includes fragments of non-edible wood found adjacent to an interproximal groove suggesting oral hygiene activities, while plant fibres may be linked to raw material processing. Environmental evidence comprises spores, insect fragments and conifer pollen grains which are consistent with a forested environment.