Las palomas salvajes, un recurso más de la dieta neandertal

• Así lo apunta un estudio que se publica hoy en Scientific Reports 
• Hasta hace poco, la explotación sistemática de las aves se consideraba una característica exclusiva de la conducta humana moderna

 Hasta muy recientemente, la explotación sistemática de las aves con fines alimentarios se consideraba una característica exclusiva de la conducta humana moderna. En cambio, algunos estudios han dejado entrever que esto podía no ser de esta manera. En este contexto se enmarca una investigación que ha hecho pública la revista Scientific Reportsdonde se constata que los neandertales también habrían cazado palomas salvajes (antepasados ​​de los actuales) y formarían parte de su dieta. En el trabajo ha participado Jordi Rosell, arqueólogo del IPHES e investigador docente de la Universitat Rovira i Virgili de Tarragona. 

1/3. IPHES

 Para llegar a esta conclusión, un equipo internacional encabezado por Ruth Blasco y Clive Finlayson, ambos del Gibraltar Museum, han analizado huesos de palomas salvajes descubiertos en la cueva de Gorham (Gibraltar), con una cronología comprendida entre los 67.000 y 28.000 años antes de ahora. Este rango de tiempo coincidió con la ocupación de la cueva por los neandertales y, posteriormente, los Homo sapiens. 

En algunos de estos huesos -comenta Jordi Rosell-, hemos observado marcas de corte o signos de cremación, que pueden indicar que aquellas aves podían haber sido descuartizadas y cocinadas". "La proporción de los huesos encontrados con marcas de corte -puntualiza el mismo arqueólogo- fue relativamente pequeña, pero debemos tener en cuenta que este tipo de animales requerirían una carnicería mínima y podían ser comidas directamente con las manos. En este sentido, se han identificado marcas de dientes humanos en algunos huesos, las cuales son una evidencia más de que las aves fueron consumidas por los habitantes de la cueva".

Con este trabajo, los investigadores proponen que los neandertales podrían haber tenido habilidades similares a los humanos modernos en cuanto a la obtención de alimentos. iphesnoticias  / Link 2
 

Referencia bibliográfica

Blasco, R. et al. The earliest pigeon fanciers (Open). Sci. Rep. 4, 5971; DOI:10.1038/srep05971 (2014).


Actualización: Ancient pigeon bones reveal secrets of Neanderthals' bird diet
(AFP) - Neanderthals may have caught, butchered and cooked pigeons long before modern humans became regular consumers of bird meat, a new study has revealed.

Close examination of 1,724 bird bones in a cave in Gibraltar revealed cuts, human tooth marks and burns, according to research published in the journal Scientific Reports on Thursday.

The bones were from rock doves -- a species that typically nests on cliff ledges and the entrance to large caves -- and the ancestors of today's widespread feral pigeon.

The discarded remains were dated between 67,000 and 28,000 years ago, a period when the cave was occupied by Neanderthals and subsequently by humans.

It was not known how the birds were captured, though the team speculated they would have been relatively easy to snatch from their nests "by a moderately skillful and silent climber".

The markings on bones from parts of the cave inhabited by Neanderthals suggested the birds may have been butchered and cooked over fire, wrote the researchers.

"Our results point to hitherto unappreciated capacities of the Neanderthals to exploit birds as food resources on a regular basis," the team wrote.

"More so, they were practising it long before the arrival of modern humans and had therefore invented it independently."

It had been thought that humans were the first to regularly eat birds.

Yet at Gorham's Cave, "Neanderthals exploited Rock Doves for food for a period of over 40 thousand years, the earliest evidence dating to at least 67 thousand years ago," said the paper.

And these were not sporadic meals, as borne out by "repeated evidence of the practice in different, widely spaced" parts of the cave.

Other recent studies have revealed that in addition to meat, Neanderthals ate vegetables, berries and nuts, that they took care of their elders and used sophisticated bone tools.

An enigmatic branch of the human family tree, Neanderthals lived in parts of Europe, Central Asia and Middle East for up to 300,000 years but vanished from the fossil record about 30-40,000 years ago.

Only a small proportion of bones found in the cave's Neanderthal regions had cut marks on them, but the authors pointed out that the birds were small and easy to eat without utensils.

"After skinning or feather removal, direct use of hands and teeth would be the best way to remove the meat and fat/cartilage from the bones," they wrote.

"The proof of this is the human toothmarks and associated damage observed on some dove bones."

They conceded the scorch marks were not conclusive proof of cooking, but could also be waste disposal or accidental burning.