Project Details
Projekt
Diet and Physiological Stresses in Paleolithic non-adults
Subject Area
Prehistory and World Archaeology
Term
from 2017 to 2023
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 353106138
In this proposal funds are being requested to conduct the most comprehensive study to date on diet and physiological stresses of Paleolithic non-adults from across their wide temporal and geographical ranges. Dental remains belonging to Pre-Neandertals, Neandertals, Middle Paleolithic anatomically modern humans, and Upper Paleolithic modern humans from numerous western Eurasian sites will be examined using two well-established methodologies in science-based archaeology, dental microwear texture analysis, the cutting edge microwear analysis technique, for the examination of non-adults diets; and dental enamel hypoplasia analysis for the documentation of physiological stresses faced during childhood. For comparative and interpretive purposes for the fossil sample, this study will also document diets and physiological stresses among recent human non-adults from different time periods and geographic locations.The aims of the study are: 1) to document the age at which weaning occurred in each of the Paleolithic populations and to explore its implications on life history patterns, 2) to document the age at which developmentally non-adults were considered as behaviorally adults in the different Paleolithic societies, and 3) to examine the effects of paleoecological factors on dietary and stress distribution patterns among Paleolithic non-adults. This study is highly significant since it will reveal previously undocumented behavioral/social aspects of Paleolithic humans. Although the Paleolithic human fossil record comprises a significant number of non-adults, our understanding of childhood in the Paleolithic is very limited, since children are generally not included in archaeological analyses. The proposed study will bring to light important but largely unexplored aspects of the life of Paleolithic children, their diets and the nutritional stresses they experienced. Since diet is the first requirement for survival, maintaining proper nourishment and nutritional well-being of young generations is a necessity for the survival of populations. Thus, this study will not only shed light on a as yet understudied sub-unit of Paleolithic societies, but will also reveal previously unknown behavioral aspects of these societies as a whole, especially those pertaining to treatment of children and childcare practices that generally cannot be revealed through analyses of adult remains. This study will also allow for a comparison of these behaviors between the different time periods of the Paleolithic, specifically between Neandertals and Upper Paleolithic modern humans, shedding light on possible behavioral differences between these human groups. The broader impact of this study is that it will enhance our understanding of ancient human behavior. It will also trace the origin of modernity in such strategies and behaviors in the Paleolithic, at the very critical period of late human evolution when modern humans expanded across the world and Neandertals disappeared.
DFG Programme
Research Grants
