The prehistoric populations of hunters and gatherers who lived along the Mediterranean coasts for 9,500 years consumed large quantities of fish: their paleo diet, which until now was thought to be based mainly on terrestrial and non-aquatic resources, is rewritten by the analysis of the bones of 11 individuals found in the ancient Spanish cemetery El Collado, near Valencia. The results are published in the journal Proceeedings of the Royal Society B by an international research group, led by archaeologists from the University of York, in which the Department of Environmental Biology of the Sapienza University of Rome also participated.
The researchers analyzed the isotopic compositions of the amino acids extracted from the bones thanks to an innovative biomolecular technique that allows greater accuracy in the discrimination between terrestrial and aquatic resources, essential for evaluating the dietary changes associated with the introduction of plants and domestic animals to the beginning of agriculture.
The results of the work challenge the traditional view according to which the Mediterranean, compared to the Atlantic and the Baltic, was not a primary source of livelihood for Mesolithic populations. In fact, the analyzes show that the hunters and gatherers who lived around 9,500 and 8,500 years ago had an economy strongly oriented towards the coast which included a considerable amount of aquatic resources, such as brackish water fish and crustaceans.
Source: Ansa
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