The Neanderthal's predominant food source was meat

Found at a dig in Spain, the ancient excrement showed chemical traces of both meat and plant digestion.

An earlier view of these early humans as purely meat-eating has already been partially discredited by plant remains found in their caves and teeth.

The new paper, in the journal PLOS One, claims to offer the best support to date for an omnivorous diet.

Poo is "the perfect evidence," said Ms Ainara Sistiaga, a PhD student at the University of La Laguna on the Canary Islands, and the study's first author, "because you're sure it was consumed".
Neanderthal illustration The view of Neanderthals as purely carnivorous is now contradicted by several findings

Ms Sistiaga and her colleagues collected a number of samples from the remnants of a 50,000-year-old campfire in the El Salt dig site, a known Neanderthal habitation near Alicante on Spain's Mediterranean coast.

A year later, the samples were analysed in a lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where Ms Sistiaga is a visiting researcher.
Significant plant intake

The team used a technique called gas chromatography to separate the chemicals bound up in the ancient samples. This was combined with mass spectrometry to figure out which molecules were present and in what quantities.

Importantly, the relative concentration of an ester called coprostanol - used to detect human sewage - suggested that several samples were in fact traces of fossilised faeces.

The faecal matter came from the very top layer of the fire remains. Ms Sistiaga explained this probably means it was left behind after the fire was extinguished, perhaps on the periphery of another nearby campfire.
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    The start point, the teeth, and the end point, the faeces, show the same thing. The evidence is clear at both ends”Laser脫毛

Dr Stephen Buckley University of York

"The fire was not active at the moment of the deposit - it makes sense," she said with a chuckle.

In thin sections of soil from exactly the same area, the team also identified small "coprolites" - whole pieces of fossilised poo - which showed characteristics of human faeces, including their physical structure and a high phosphate content which makes them glow under blue light耳穴診治.

Dated at about 50,000 years old, based on the layer in which it was found, this is the oldest human excrement ever identified. Ms Sistiaga said her samples easily pre-date other fossilised faeces, belonging to modern humans (Homo sapiens) and found in Egyptian mummies and ancient Greek latrines.

The key finding, however, came from the chemical make-up of the miniscule traces of faeces in the campfire ashes. All these samples were dominated by products of meat digestion, but one in particular showed significant amounts of plant-derived esters as well.

So although the Neanderthal's predominant food source was meat, Ms Sistiaga explained that the chemistry of her sample suggested a "significant intake of plants".bb床