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Prehistoric Neanderthal diets were maggot heavy, a new study suggests
- Maggots may have been a significant part of prehistoric diets, according to a study published in the journal Science Advances.
- Lead author Melanie Beasley noted that a taste for maggots explains a unique chemical signature found in prehistoric bones.
- Researchers suggest Neanderthals likely consumed animal meat along with maggots regularly.
- Beasley stated that eating lean meat and fatty maggots provides a more complete nutrient profile.
30 Articles
30 Articles
Neanderthals were maggot munchers, challenging hypercarnivore theory
Credit: Science Photo Library / Getty Images Plus. New research suggests that the reason Neanderthal remains have high nitrogen levels is due to them eating maggots, challenging theories that the ancient humans ate as much fatty meat as hypercarnivores like lions and wolves. Neanderthal remains have high stable nitrogen isotope ratios (δ15N), similar to or even higher than the levels seen in large carnivores from the same sites. The ratio betwee…
A study questions whether Neanderthals only ate meat, with scientists saying that eating rodents could better explain previous findings about their diet.
Outside, the wind is frozen and the temperature is around zero degrees, but inside the cave a group of Neanderthals is sheltered around the fire. On flat stones, adults, children and even some old people wait for a piece of gazelle to finish cooking that same morning. There are no pots or spoons, but technical. The piece of meat was dismembered following a specific cutting pattern, using something similar to a knife made with a sharp piece of si…
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