Hominin Diet

Three assemblages of fallow deer (Dama sp.) bones excavated from the early middle Pleistocene (oxygen isotope stage 18) layers of the Acheulian site of Gesher Benot Ya‘aqov, Israel, furnish evidence of systematic and repeated exploitation of complete carcasses by hominins.
The excellent state of preservation of the bones and the presence of only minimal signs of carnivore involvement permit an investigation of the role of hominins as the primary agents responsible for the damage to these bones. Hominin expertise in dealing with fallow deer carcasses is manifested by cut marks, percussion marks, and hack marks on the bones. The archaeozoological analysis of the anatomical position and
frequency of these marks suggests that carcass processing followed systematic practices that reflect an in-depth knowledge of fallow deer anatomy and a consistent behavioral strategy. These assemblages represent one of the earliest examples of methodological butchering practices in Eurasia. The evidence of carcass processing observed at Gesher Benot Ya‘aqov resembles that seen in late Pleistocene sites in Israel, which were inhabited by modern humans. We interpret the Gesher Benot Ya‘aqov data as indicating that the Acheulian hunters at the site (1) were proficient communicators and learners and (2) possessed anatomical knowledge, considerable manual skill, impressive technological abilities, and foresight.

A recent study of occlusal microwear in Australopithecus afarensis described this species as an opportunistic dweller, living in both forested and open environments and greatly relying on fallback resources and using fewer food-processing activities than previously suggested. In the present study, analysis of buccal microwear variability in a sample of A. afarensis specimens (n ¼ 75 teeth) showed no significant correlations with the ecological shift that took place around 3.5 Ma in Africa. These results are consistent with the occlusal microwear data available. In fact, significant correlations between buccal and occlusal microwear variables were found. However, comparison of the buccal microwear patterns showed clear similarities between A. afarensis and those hominoid species living in somewhat open environments, especially the Cameroon gorillas. A diet based mainly on succulent fruits and seasonal fallback resources would be consistent with the buccal microwear patterns observed.

Reconstruction of extinct hominin diets is currently a topic of much interest and debate, facilitated by new methods such as the analysis of dental calculus. It has been proposed, based on chemical analyses of calculus, that Neanderthals self-medicated, yet this conclusion has been questioned. Gastrophagy has been suggested as an alternative explanation for the Neanderthal data, based on ethnographic analogies, which show this practice to have been widespread in traditional extant Homo sapiens diets, and nutritional evidence for its benefits at high latitudes. Here we expand the discussion of the potential importance of gastrophagy in human evolution by considering its role for an extant group of tropical foragers, theHadza of Tanzania, and questioning its role in the diets of extinct tropical hominin species. Gastrophagy is frequently practiced among the Hadza and adultmen in particular consume substantial, seasonally variable, amounts of prey guts. In addition to the important fact that gastrophagy is not a rare event, this demographic information may be useful in interpreting evidence from archaeological samples. The consumption of semi-digested chyme would have allowed extinct hominins to gain calories from plant sources without the cost of digesting them, possibly contributing to the encephalisation and shrinking of the gut in genus Homo. As an easy to process food-source, chyme could have likewise been an important food source for the old and the young, potentially playing a part in reducing inter-birth intervals and increasing reproductive success in our lineage. Thus, gastrophagy may have played a key part in human evolution and its potentially confounding signal should be considered in future dietary reconstructions.

The discipline of archaeozoology holds the potential to considerably contribute to knowledge about the
social behaviour of Neandertals. However, the translation of proposed subsistence strategies into
predictions about Neandertal social organisation still remains a challenge. The paper discusses the
current state of archaeozoological research with respect to Neandertal subsistence. It is concluded that
the methodological research focus in archaeozoology has shifted from its original holistic perspective to
intensified/specialised studies of particular taphonomic components. The authors argue for a return to
a more holistic perspective to develop the full potential of archaeolozoology in order to obtain
a comprehensive overall perspective of Neandertal social behaviour. Here, two avenues are suggested to
reflate the processual character of taphonomy: 1. by conducting actualistic studies, which should serve to
test the homogeneity of a faunal assemblage; and 2. by concentrating on sites from ecologically welldefined
environments with high temporal resolution, such as interglacial sites.

Two fossil specimens from the DIK-55 locality in the Hadar Formation at Dikika, Ethiopia, are contemporaneous with the earliest documented stone tools, and they collectively bear twelve marks interpreted to be characteristic of stone tool butchery damage. An alternative interpretation of the marks has been that they were caused by trampling animals and do not provide evidence of stone tool use or large ungulate exploitation by Australopithecus-grade hominins. Thus, resolving which agents created marks on fossils in deposits from Dikika is an essential step in understanding the ecological and taphonomic contexts of the hominin-bearing deposits in this region and establishing their relevance for investigations of the earliest stone tool use. This paper presents results of microscopic scrutiny of all non-hominin fossils collected from the Hadar Formation at Dikika, including additional fossils from DIK-55, and describes in detail seven assemblages from sieved surface sediment samples. The study is the first taphonomic description of Pliocene fossil assemblages from open-air deposits in Africa that were collected without using only methods that emphasize the selective retention of taxonomically-informative specimens. The sieved assemblages show distinctive differences in faunal representation and taphonomic modifications that suggest they sample a range of depositional environments in the Pliocene Hadar Lake Basin, and have implications for how landscape-based taphonomy can be used to infer past microhabitats. The surface modification data show that no marks on any other fossils resemble in size or shape those on the two specimens from DIK-55 that were interpreted to bear stone tool inflicted damage. A large sample of marks from the sieved collections has characteristics that match modern trampling damage, but these marks are significantly smaller than those on the DIK-55 specimens and have different suites of characteristics. Most are not visible without magnification. The data show that the DIK-55 marks are outliers amongst bone surface damage in the Dikika area, and that trampling is not the most parsimonious interpretation of their origin.

Molar occlusal microwear texture and anisotropy analyses of 3 Australopithecus anamensis fossil specimens have shown complexity values similar to those of Au. afarensis, indicating that neither of these hominin species had a diet dominated by hard food. However, many researchers have suggested that these were some of the earliest hominins to have such diets. Here we examine buccal microwear patterns of 5 Au. anamensis, 26 Au. afarensis, 48 Hominoidea and 80 Cercopithecoidea primate specimens for independent evidence of dietary adaptations of Au. anamensis. The buccal microwear results obtained suggest that the diet of Au. anamensis relied heavily on hard, brittle food, at least seasonally. This is similar to the diet of the extant Cercopithecoidea primates,

In the site of La Polledrara di Cecanibbio (MIS 9) the analysis of the riverbed morphology, combined to that of the spatial disposition of the accumulated skeletal remains and of their taphonomic modifications, allows to reconstruct the events that have led to the formation and evolution of the deposit.

Carbon-13 and oxygen-18 abundances were measured in large mammal skeletal remains (tooth enamel, dentine and bone) from the Chiwondo Beds in Malawi, which were dated by biostratigraphic correlation to ca. 2.5 million years ago. The biologic isotopic patterns, in particular the difference in carbon-13 abundances between grazers and browsers and the difference in oxygen-18 abundances between semi-aquatic and terrestrial herbivores, were preserved in enamel, but not in dentine and bone. The isotopic results obtained from the skeletal remains from the Chiwondo Beds indicate a dominance of savannah habitats with some trees and shrubs. This environment was more arid than the contemporaneous Ndolanya Beds in Tanzania. The present study confirms that robust australopithecines were able to live in relatively arid environments and were not confined to more mesic environments elsewhere in southern Africa.