Isotope evidence for the intensive use of marine foods by Late Upper Palaeolithic humans

We report here on direct evidence for the intensive consumption of marine foods by anatomically modern humans at approximately 12,000 years ago. We undertook isotopic analysis of bone collagen from three humans, dating to the late Palaeolithic, from the site of Kendrick's Cave in North Wales, U...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of human evolution 2005-09, Vol.49 (3), p.390-394
Main Authors: Richards, M.P., Jacobi, R., Cook, J., Pettitt, P.B., Stringer, C.B.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Biological Evolution
Bone and Bones - chemistry
Bone industry
Caniformia
Carbon Isotopes
Collagen
Collagen - analysis
Deer
Diet
Environmental studies
Fauna
Fishes
Fossils
Generalities
Humans
Mammals
Marine
Methodology and general studies
Nitrogen Isotopes
Organisation and history of research
Predatory Behavior
Prehistory and protohistory
Seafood
Shellfish
Stable isotopes
Typology, technology and attribute analysis
Upper Palaeolithic
Wales
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Summary:We report here on direct evidence for the intensive consumption of marine foods by anatomically modern humans at approximately 12,000 years ago. We undertook isotopic analysis of bone collagen from three humans, dating to the late Palaeolithic, from the site of Kendrick's Cave in North Wales, UK. The isotopic measurements of their bone collagen indicated that ca. 30% of their dietary protein was from marine sources, which we interpret as likely being high trophic level marine organisms such as marine mammals. This indicates that towards the end of the Pleistocene modern humans were pursuing a hunting strategy that incorporated both marine and terrestrial mammals. This is the first occurrence of the intensive use of marine resources, specifically marine mammals, that becomes even more pronounced in the subsequent Mesolithic period.
ISSN:0047-2484
1095-8606
DOI:10.1016/j.jhevol.2005.05.002