Investigation of equid paleodiet from Schöningen 13 II-4 through dental wear and isotopic analyses: Archaeological implications

Florent Rivals; Marie-Anne Julien; Margot Kuitems; Thijs Van Kolfschoten; Jordi Serangeli; Dorothée G Drucker; Hervé Bocherens; Nicholas J Conard

doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2014.04.002

Investigation of equid paleodiet from Schöningen 13 II-4 through dental wear and isotopic analyses: Archaeological implications

J Hum Evol. 2015 Dec:89:129-37. doi: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2014.04.002. Epub 2014 Sep 18.

Authors

Florent Rivals¹, Marie-Anne Julien², Margot Kuitems³, Thijs Van Kolfschoten³, Jordi Serangeli⁴, Dorothée G Drucker⁵, Hervé Bocherens⁶, Nicholas J Conard⁷

Affiliations

¹ Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), Barcelona, Spain; Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES), C. Marcel·lí Domingo s/n, Campus Sescelades URV (Edifici W3), 43007 Tarragona, Spain; Area de Prehistoria, Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), Avinguda de Catalunya 35, 43002 Tarragona, Spain. Electronic address: florent.rivals@icrea.cat.
² Institute for Archaeological Sciences, University of Tübingen, Rümelinstr. 23, 72070 Tübingen, Germany; Centre for the Archaeology of Human Origins, Archaeology Department, University of Southampton, Avenue Campus, Southampton SO17 1BF, UK; Unité Histoire Naturelle de l'Homme Préhistorique (UMR 7194), Sorbonne Universités, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, CNRS, 1 rue René Panhard, 75013 Paris, France.
³ Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, Reuvensplaats 3-4, 2311 BE Leiden, The Netherlands.
⁴ Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, University of Tübingen, Schloss Hohentübingen, 72070 Tübingen, Germany.
⁵ Department of Geosciences, Biogeology, University of Tübingen, Hölderlinstr. 12, 72074, Tübingen, Germany.
⁶ Department of Geosciences, Biogeology, University of Tübingen, Hölderlinstr. 12, 72074, Tübingen, Germany; Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoecology, Hölderlinstr. 12, 72074, Tübingen, Germany.
⁷ Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, University of Tübingen, Schloss Hohentübingen, 72070 Tübingen, Germany; Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoecology, University of Tübingen, Schloss Hohentübingen, 72070 Tübingen, Germany.

PMID: 25242064
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2014.04.002

Abstract

The paleodietary traits of the equid population from Schöningen 13 II-4 were investigated through tooth mesowear and microwear analyses, as well as stable isotopic analyses. The mesowear pattern observed on the upper teeth indicates a low abrasion diet with a significant amount of browse in the diet of the horses. The tooth microwear analysis and the isotopic data confirm that the horses from Schöningen 13 II-4 were mixed feeders, like many populations from other Pleistocene localities in Northern and Eastern Europe. Microwear also provides information on seasonal changes in the diet of the horses and offers the possibility to test hypotheses about the presence of one or several horse populations. Our analysis determined that the assemblage of horse remains from Schöningen 13 II-4 resulted from multiple accumulation events, which took place at different periods of time.

Keywords: Fossil accumulation; Germany; Horse; Mesowear; Microwear; Middle Pleistocene; Stable isotope.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Carbon Isotopes / analysis
Diet*
Germany
Horses*
Oxygen Isotopes / analysis
Paleontology*
Tooth Wear*

Substances

Carbon Isotopes
Oxygen Isotopes