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The Evolution of Hominin Diets pp 251–257Cite as

Stable Isotope Evidence for European Upper Paleolithic Human Diets

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This paper presents the published and unpublished stable carbon and nitrogen isotope values for 36 European Upper Paleolithic humans from 20 sites. The isotope data were measured to determine the sources of dietary protein in Upper Paleolithic diets; the evidence indicates that animal, not plant, protein was the dominant protein source for all of the humans measured. Interestingly, the isotope evidence shows that aquatic (marine and freshwater) foods are important in the diets of a number of individuals throughout this period.

Keywords

  • Stable isotopes
  • carbon
  • nitrogen
  • diet
  • aquatic foods
  • marine foods
  • Upper Palaeolithic

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, Leipzig, D-04103, Germany

    Michael P. Richards

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  1. Michael P. Richards
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany

    Jean-Jacques Hublin & Michael P. Richards & 

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Richards, M.P. (2009). Stable Isotope Evidence for European Upper Paleolithic Human Diets. In: Hublin, JJ., Richards, M.P. (eds) The Evolution of Hominin Diets. Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9699-0_20

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