Investigation of equid paleodiet from Schöningen 13 II-4 through dental wear and isotopic analyses: Archaeological implications.
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.
Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Publication Date: 2014-09-18 PubMed ID: 25242064DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2014.04.002Google Scholar: Lookup
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- Journal Article
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Summary
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The research studied the diet of ancient horses from Schöningen 13 II-4 using tooth analysis and isotopic analyses. The findings suggest these horses had a diet low in hard and abrasive foods, consisted mostly of browsing on plants, and a mixed feeding behavior, similar to other Pleistocene-era horses in Northern and Eastern Europe.
Method of Investigation
- The researchers relied on two primary investigative methods. Firstly, tooth microwear and mesowear analyses, which involve studying the wear patterns of the teeth, revealing what those creatures ate. Secondly, stable isotopic analyses provided additional insights about the diet of these ancient horses.
- Mesowear analysis provides clues about the hardness of the diet, evident from the chewing surface of the teeth. Lower levels of abrasion indicate a softer diet primarily consisting of leafy plants.
- Microwear analysis, on the other hand, provides insight into horse’s dietary habits over a much shorter timescale, giving details about changes in diet along with seasonal variations.
- Isotopic analysis reveals the types of plants that were part of the horses’ diet, including whether the plants were from an open (grassland) or closed (woodland) environment.
Findings about Equids’ Paleodiet
- The study discovered a low abrasion diet, indicated by the mesowear pattern on the upper teeth. This suggests the horses had a significant amount of browse (leafy plants or shrubs) in their diet.
- The tooth microwear analysis and the isotopic data confirm that these horses were mixed feeders, indicating that they consumed a variety of sources, including both grasses and leaves.
- This study confirmed that these horses from Schöningen 13 II-4 had similar feeding habits as many other horse populations from Pleistocene localities in Northern and Eastern Europe.
Information on Seasonal Changes
- The microwear analysis also provided information about the seasonal changes in the diet of these horses. It offered the potential to test hypotheses about one or several horse populations’ existence at the site.
- Thus, this study concluded that the assemblage of horse remains from Schöningen 13 II-4 resulted from multiple accumulation events that took place at different periods of time.
Cite This Article
APA
Rivals F, Julien MA, Kuitems M, Van Kolfschoten T, Serangeli J, Drucker DG, Bocherens H, Conard NJ.
(2014).
Investigation of equid paleodiet from Schöningen 13 II-4 through dental wear and isotopic analyses: Archaeological implications.
J Hum Evol, 89, 129-137.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2014.04.002 Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- 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.
- 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.
- Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, Reuvensplaats 3-4, 2311 BE Leiden, The Netherlands.
- Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, Reuvensplaats 3-4, 2311 BE Leiden, The Netherlands.
- Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, University of Tübingen, Schloss Hohentübingen, 72070 Tübingen, Germany.
- Department of Geosciences, Biogeology, University of Tübingen, Hölderlinstr. 12, 72074, Tübingen, Germany.
- Department of Geosciences, Biogeology, University of Tübingen, Hölderlinstr. 12, 72074, Tübingen, Germany; Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoecology, Hölderlinstr. 12, 72074, Tübingen, Germany.
- 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.
MeSH Terms
- Animals
- Carbon Isotopes / analysis
- Diet
- Germany
- Horses
- Oxygen Isotopes / analysis
- Paleontology
- Tooth Wear
Citations
This article has been cited 5 times.- Cirilli O, Machado H, Arroyo-Cabrales J, Barrón-Ortiz CI, Davis E, Jass CN, Jukar AM, Landry Z, Marín-Leyva AH, Pandolfi L, Pushkina D, Rook L, Saarinen J, Scott E, Semprebon G, Strani F, Villavicencio NA, Kaya F, Bernor RL. Evolution of the Family Equidae, Subfamily Equinae, in North, Central and South America, Eurasia and Africa during the Plio-Pleistocene. Biology (Basel) 2022 Aug 24;11(9).
- Kirillova IV, Chernova OF, Kukarskikh VV, Shidlovskiy FK, Zanina OG. The first finding of a rhinoceros of the Genus Stephanorhinus in Arctic Asia. Dokl Biol Sci 2016 Nov;471(1):300-303.
- Weingarten A, Häusler M, Serangeli J, Verheijen I, Reiter E, Radzevičiūtė R, Stoessel A, Krause J, Spyrou MA, Conard NJ, Nieselt K, Posth C. Mitochondrial genomes of Middle Pleistocene horses from the open-air site complex of Schöningen. Nat Ecol Evol 2025 Dec;9(12):2248-2258.
- Heddell-Stevens P, Jöris O, Britton K, Matthies T, Lucas M, Scott E, Le Roux P, Meller H, Roberts P. Multi-isotope reconstruction of Late Pleistocene large-herbivore biogeography and mobility patterns in Central Europe. Commun Biol 2024 May 14;7(1):568.
- Milks A, Lehmann J, Leder D, Sietz M, Koddenberg T, Böhner U, Wachtendorf V, Terberger T. A double-pointed wooden throwing stick from Schöningen, Germany: Results and new insights from a multianalytical study. PLoS One 2023;18(7):e0287719.
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