Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
1035303 | Journal of Archaeological Science | 2015 | 11 Pages |
•We infer diet in the Red Lady through dental microwear and isotopic analysis.•Results from both independent approaches are consistent.•Lower Magdalenian individual form El Mirón Cave consumed a mixed diet, implying a generalized exploitation of the environment.
Dietary habits are inferred from dental microwear and isotope analyses of the Magdalenian human individual from the site of El Mirón, dated to 15,460 ± 40 BP. The pattern of dental microwear was established on the buccal surface of the lower fourth premolar and on the bottom of facet 9 on the occlusal surface of the lower third molar. The results obtained through analysis of different surfaces are consistent and indicate a mixed diet for this Lower Magdalenian individual, including meat, aquatic resources and vegetables. These results are in agreement with those obtained through isotope analysis. This implies a generalized exploitation of the environment as has been previously established in other Late Upper Palaeolithic specimens.