承前*1
Ian Sample “Neanderthals may have feasted on meat and two veg diet” http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/dec/27/neanderthals-cooked-diet-us-research
米国ワシントンのSmithsonian National Museum of Natural History のDolores Pipernoを中心とする研究者は、イラク及び白耳義で発掘されたネアンデルタール人の化石の歯垢の分析から、彼/彼女らが(ホモ・サピエンスと同様に)採集した植物や狩猟した動物を火で加工していたこと、つまり料理していたことを明らかにした。また、ネアンデルタール人における性別役割分業存在の可能性も。記事に曰く、
In Piperno's opinion, the research undermines one theory that suggests early modern humans drove the Neanderthals to extinction by having a more sophisticated and robust diet. The work also raises questions about whether Neanderthals organised themselves in a similar way to early hunter-gatherer groups, she said."When you start routinely to exploit plants in your diet, you can arrange your settlements according to the season. In two months' time you want to be where the cereals are maturing, and later where the date palms are ready to pick. It sounds simplistic, but this is important in terms of your overall cognitive abilities.
"In early human groups, women typically collected plants and turned them into food while men hunted. To us, and it is just a suggestion, this brings up the possibility that there was some sexual division of labour in the Neanderthals and that is something most people did not think existed."