“It has long been believed that the Neanderthals were great predators, lovers of red meat and imposing game – like the mammoth – grilled in the flame”recall CNN.
But a new study published Friday July 25 in the scientific journal Science Advances comes to shake up this idea.
The image of a neanderthal “hypercarnivore” has been maintained by previous works claiming that his bones “Presented a chemical signature indicating a consumption of massive meat, sometimes even higher than that observed in super-predators such as lions or wolves”underlines CNN.
Results that have long intrigued scientists. “If we have long thought that the Neanderthals were enthroned at the top of the food chain, it is because of the very high rates of nitrogen dit ‘heavy’ found in their bones”, Explain the Guardian. However, according to the researchers, Neanderthal’s man could never have metabolizing the amount of meat necessary to reach such levels of nitrogen. “Human beings can only tolerate 4 grams of protein per kilo of body weight, while a lion, for example, can consume two to four times more without danger”explains the anthropologist John Speth, quoted by the British daily.
It was this paradox that prompted the researchers to explore another track, that of the … maggots.
They started from the hypothesis that the Neanderthals could have consumed the larvae of flies which proliferated in decaying meat carcasses, “A common practice in some indigenous crops still today, and a precious source of essential protein, fats and amino acids”specifies the Guardian.
Larvae farm, “simple, effective and nourishing”
Researcher Melanie Beasley, of the university Purdue in Indiana A “Led with uncrowding experiences” To try to verify this hypothesis, tells the British daily. This former member of the “Body Farm” From Tennessee-a scientific center where human corpses are allowed to decompose in the open air to advance forensic research-has decided to measure the heavy nitrogen levels present in the fabric of damaged meat then in the asticots which feed on it. These rates increase slightly in putrefaction meat but are very highly concentrated in maggots. Beasley deduced that Neanderthal could have “Consume these larvae after allowing certain carcasses to age voluntarily, a rudimentary but effective food storage strategy”.
“The idea that the Neanderthals were hypercarnivores never held up – it is physiologically impossible”, Insists Karen Hardy, professor of prehistoric archeology at the University of Glasgow, interviewed by the Guardian.
“It is only shocking for us, Western, because it does not correspond to our definition of food”more “In many cultures, […] Asticots are an excellent source of nutrients. […] For Neanderthals, it was obvious ”she concludes. It was enough to leave a piece of meat a few days outside, then come back to harvest the larvae. Simple, efficient and nourishing. ”
