2009/07/06 by Yaowu Hu, Hong Shang, Haowen Tong +7 · 2 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Environmental Science · Social Sciences · #Archaeology and ancient environmental studies #Isotope Analysis in Ecology #Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies
paper · doi:10.1073/pnas.0904826106
openalex publication_date 2009/07/06 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/22
We report here on the isotopic analysis of the diet of one of the oldest modern humans found in Eurasia, the Tianyuan 1 early modern human dating to approximately 40,000 calendar years ago from Tianyuan Cave (Tianyuandong) in the Zhoukoudian region of China. Carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of the human and associated faunal remains indicate a diet high in animal protein, and the high nitrogen isotope values suggest the consumption of freshwater fish. To confirm this inference, we measured the sulfur isotope values of terrestrial and freshwater animals around the Zhoukoudian area and of the Tianyuan 1 human, which also support the interpretation of a substantial portion of the diet from freshwater fish. This analysis provides the direct evidence for the consumption of aquatic resources by early modern humans in China and has implications for early modern human subsistence and demography.