Nitrogen isotopic composition of collagen amino acids as an indicator of aquatic resource

consumption: insights from Mesolithic and Epipalaeolithic archaeological sites in France

Aquatic resources have been believed to be something that hominins have begun doing

only until the late Pleistocene which is only about 40,000 years ago in Europe (Naito,

Chikaraishi, Ohkouchi, Drucker, Bocherens, 2013, p.2). However, this data does seem to be

somewhat affected by the lack of coastal sites through the sea-level-rise. In comparing

Neanderthals with AMH (Anatomically Modern Humans), it is evident that Neanderthals ate

large terrestrial animals, but some do eat smaller aquatic species. Even though some did eat

aquatic resources it is more than clear that AMH preferred this aquatic diet. This is quite clear,

the part that is a little less evident is that of freshwater resource consumption. This problem is

due to two main factors: there are overlaps in carbon and nitrogen sources between freshwater

and terrestrial ecosystems, the spatiotemporal function in nitrogen of terrestrial ecosystems

(Naito, Chikaraishi, Ohkouchi, Drucker, Bocherens, 2013, p.2). In simpler terms it is difficult to

make a clear distinction between terrestrial and freshwater fauna. This brings us to the objective

of testing the nitrogen isotope analysis of individual amino acids in the bone to find presence of

freshwater resource consumption. In order to test this, they did an archeological excavation in

two cites in France. This study primarily focuses on making a distinction between freshwater

animals and terrestrial animals.

Due to the fact that two areas were analyzed, it appears as if there a skew in the data.

Some humans had a high concentration of š15N values, which would technically indicate that

early humans ate freshwater inhabitants, but it could also mean that their diet relied heavily on

terrestrial animals as well. Also, herbivores could have gotten the š15N values from the plants.

Terrestrial animals carnivores (wolf, lynx, and a fox) show that they their diets were pure
carnivore. This could indicate that the š15N levels could have been due to the prey that they ate

rather than their trophic position.

The hypothesis that these authors came up with was that early humans had a diet that

consisted of aquatic resources as well as terrestrial prey. This was technically proved accurate to

some extent because humans’ diets did show that they had a larger amount of š15N values in

their system. However, this could be due to various factors. It does not necessarily indicate that

their diet consisted of freshwater resources. This also provided an indication of where their

trophic environment was because it could show that there were freshwater resources available in

a short distance. However, this rule of thumb does not particular pertain to the carnivores

because the levels of nitrogen in their system could have been due to prey that they had ate.

The conclusion was quite clear, in the manner that it did conclude by going back to the

beginning and stating that the samples that were chosen were chosen for a reason. It also

discusses the results that were discovered. The best thing about this conclusion is that it does not

only focus on the positive aspects of this research it also talks about its weaknesses. For example,

the way in which this was tested (bone tests along with dentistry), did have some implications

that came along. They did state that in order to get better results someone else would have to

repeat this experiment with alterations to make for better results.

I definitely think that this paper followed the scientific method because they started of

posing a problem. They stated that it would be difficult to analyze the freshwater diets of

organisms because they were closely related to that of terrestrial organisms. As soon as they

posed this question they set out to find an answer. They did first do research and mention how

other aquatic resources were mentioned. Once they did this they posed their hypothesis. This

hypothesis was the second to last sentence in the introduction paragraph. Once this hypothesis
was put in place they went out and did the experiment. While doing so they took data and jotted

it down. It appears that as soon as they finished jotting it down they organized it and put it on a

nice chart. In their results they did mention implications that they had, which made it clear that

they did the experiment. This was the case because they did not say that their experiment was

perfect, they were okay to label their flaws.

This article relates to human evolution because when we think of human evolution we

think of the body and how it has been altered over time. However, human evolution is much

more than that. We must also take a look at how early hominins formed social groups, how they

gathered food, what their food was, etc. This research paper talked about the diets of early

hominins more specifically on whether it consisted of freshwater resources or not. this helps us

understand a lot of the was early hominins lived because if their diet consisted of freshwater

resources it could also indicate that they were placed near a water resource. It could also show us

how advanced they were because eating freshwater resources required more than just eating, it

also required a strong stomach that could dissolve the nutrients coming from these organisms.
References:

Naito, Y. I., Chikaraishi, Y., Ohkouchi, N., Drucker, D. G., &

Bocherens, H. (2013). Nitrogen isotopic composition of collagen

amino acids as an indicator of aquatic resource consumption:

Insights from Mesolithic and Epipalaeolithic archaeological sites in France. Retrieved

April 9, 2018, from

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