The last food of the ancient people revealed the length of stay

At France's Arago cave, an international team of scientists analyzed fossil teeth from herbivores that were once hunted by Heidelberg people (Homo heidelbergensis). This is the first time an analytical method allows to calculate the residence time of a family member in a particular region. The key to this success is the last kind of food they have used.

For many years, the movement of ancient groups and the time they stayed in a cave or a certain place has always been a controversial topic among scientists. Now, an international research group led by scientists from the Catalan Institute of Ecological and Social Evolution (IPHES) has explored the fossil teeth of animals that are the prey of Heidelberg people to determine the characteristics of the vegetation of that period as well as their way of life.

Florent Rivals is the main author and scientist from the Catalan Institute of Research and Survey (ICREA) with the same headquarters with the IPHES institute in Tarragona. ' For the first time in the history of research, a method has been used, allowing us to determine the length of the residence period of a family in the survey area. So far, researchers have still had difficulty identifying, for example, the difference between long-term residence in a place with a series of seasonal short-term occupations in that location. '

Shape of mammoth teeth (left); magnified image 35 times (right). (Photo: Florent Rivals)

In a recent study published in the Journal of Human Evolution, scientists analyzed the teeth of a ungulate (herbivorous mammal) created by tiny silica opan seeds in plants. These traces appear when they eat and erase over the old trace. That is a useful feature for researchers.

Thanks to this phenomenon, scientists can analyze the final food of herbivores such as Eurasian wild horses (Equus ferus), forest sheep (Ovis ammon antiqua) or reindeer (Rangifer tarandus). 'This method allows us to confirm whether the residence of the ancient people is seasonal or not,' Rivals added. According to the team, the microscopic particles covered on the teeth are sensitive to seasonal food changes.

This application allows researchers to estimate the length of the Arago Cave (France) residence by the number of fossils and the change in food due to a specific type of food each season. explained paleontologist.

Long / short stay period

After re-examining the above hypothesis in animals today with a defined number of ages and death dates, researchers demonstrate that, if a group of animals is observed in a particular season (corresponding to time) Short stay in the study), the signs of the crown have very little change. But if the length of stay lasts for several seasons, the marks on the teeth are very diverse.

'If the length of stay is long, there will be many different marks on the teeth of the hunted animal,' Rivals said. In the case of Arago Cave in France, the study of dental coatings confirmed that there were different types of cling on the animal's teeth, corresponding to the different forms of Heidelberg family. 'With this method, we confirm in the Heidelberg residence, there is evidence that some groups often move, while the other group hardly moves.'

Refer:

Rivals et al.A new application of dental wear analgesics: estimation of duration of hominid occupations in archaeological nodes.Journal of Human Evolution, 2009;56 (4): 329 DOI: 10.1016 / j.jhevol.2008.11.005