9,500 years ago, on the Mediterranean coast of the Iberian Peninsula, different groups of hunter-gatherers fought for their survival. They competed for food with other large predators such as the wolf, the fox, the extinct cave hyena, the bobcat, the lynx, and even the lion.
Hunting was a dangerous activity, so humans also opted for plant resources… and marine products. Fish and shellfish were a fundamental part of their diet, according to new research that refutes everything that was believed so far.
The classical theory indicated that, since the Mediterranean Sea has a lower biological productivity, it would not have been able to sustain fishing economies during the Mesolithic (between 10,000 and 5,000 years ago), similar to those that did exist in other parts of Europe such as the Atlantic and the baltic
Researchers from the University of York, however, have studied the bones of 11 individuals buried in El Collado (Valencia), one of the oldest Mesolithic cemeteries in the Mediterranean, and have discovered that the tribes of this area who lived between 9,500 and 8,500 years ago they had a strong coastal economy and they reached high levels of consumption of aquatic proteins.
“Our findings challenge the traditional view that prehistoric hunter-gatherers in the Mediterranean consumed less fish than their Atlantic contemporaries. The evidence shows that the lower productivity in the Mediterranean basin did not have a greater impact on the usable resources that made up the diet of the individuals of El Collado,” says Dr. Maria Fontanals-Coll, lead author of the study published in the journal Proceedings of the royal society b.
The new research has used high-resolution biomolecular techniques, such as specific isotope analysis, which have made it possible to more accurately discriminate between terrestrial and marine animals, crucial information for assessing the change in diet associated with the introduction of domesticated plants and animals. with the advent of agriculture.
“The extent to which humans depended on coastal resources in the past is key to understanding not only long-term social and economic development, but also to assess human health and the impact hunter-gatherers had on the environment. environment”, adds Fontanals-Coll.
André Colonese, a researcher at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), who has also participated in this study, points out that these findings “add to the growing consensus that coastal areas were crucial for human societies since prehistoric times.” “The foundations of fishing in the Mediterranean date back to these first fishermen”, he concludes.
