A Neandertal dietary conundrum: Insights provided by tooth enamel Zn isotopes from Gabasa, Spain

Abstract

Neandertals’ diets are a topic of continued debate, especially since their disappearance has been frequently attributed to their subsistence strategy. There is no clear consensus on how variable their diets were in time and space. Isotope studies have helped quantify meat consumption in Neandertals, but usually rely on nitrogen isotope analyses of collagen, a protein rarely preserved in samples older than 50 ka. Moreover, collagen extraction for isotope analyses is rarely successful in Iberian skeletal material. Here, we employ zinc isotope analysis of dental enamel of a Neandertal and associated fauna (Gabasa, Spain), which can be applied to contexts >50 ka. This proxy confirms a high level of carnivory in an Iberian Neandertal. Keywords: carnivory, Middle Paleolithic, zinc isotope ratios, Iberian Neandertals, hominin