The real Neanderthal diet: Researchers shed new

The real Neanderthal diet: Researchers shed new light on early man's diet - and it turns out he ate his greens (and knew how to use plants as medicine)
Diet far more varied than previously thought
Neanderthal man had a 'bitter tooth'
First use of medicinal food found
By MARK PRIGG



Neanderthal man ate his greens as well as meat, scientists said today.

An astonishing new insight into ancient diets has found that early man had a far more varied diet than previously thought.

An international team of researchers led by the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and the University of York, has found the first molecular evidence that Neanderthals not only ate a range of cooked plant foods, but also understood its nutritional and medicinal qualities.

A lifelike figure of a Neanderthal Man in the Neanderthal Museum in Mettmann by Duesseldorf, Northrhine-Westphalia, Germany
A lifelike figure of a Neanderthal Man in the Neanderthal Museum in Mettmann by Duesseldorf, Northrhine-Westphalia, Germany

Until recently Neanderthals, who disappeared between 30,000 and 24,000 years ago, were thought to be predominantly meat-eaters.

However, researchers from Spain, the UK and Australia combined pyrolysis gas-chromatography-mass spectrometry with an analysis of plant microfossils to identify material trapped in calcified dental plaque from five Neanderthals from the north Spanish site of El Sidrón.

The results, published in Naturwissenschaften – The Science of Nature this week, also reveal the first molecular evidence for medicinal plants being used by a Neanderthal.

The researchers say the starch granules and carbohydrate markers in the samples, plus evidence for plant compounds such as azulenes and coumarins, as well as possible evidence for nuts, grasses and even green vegetables, show a broader use of plants than previously thought.

Lead author Karen Hardy, a Catalan Institute of Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA) Research Professor at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) and an Honorary Research Associate at the University of York, said: 'The varied use of plants we identified suggests that the Neanderthal occupants of El Sidrón had a sophisticated knowledge of their natural surroundings which included the ability to select and use certain plants for their nutritional value and for self-medication.

'While meat was clearly important, our research points to an even more complex diet than has previously been supposed.'