Nutritional ecology and the human demography of Neandertal extinction

Demographic trends in human populations are influenced by natural selection acting upon differential rates of fertility and mortality. In human societies, fertility is primarily influenced by individual decision-making, as well as socially accepted norms of behavior. Many factors influence mortality in human populations. Among the latter, nutrition in the form of diverse essential nutrient intake may greatly influence maternal and fetal-to-infant mortality. Nutritional ecology is the study of the relationship between essential nutrient intake and its effects on human demographic patterns. A demographic revolution occurred in Europe during OIS 3: all Neandertal populations were either subsumed within populations of Anatomically Modern Homo sapiens (AMHS) (genetic swamping) or they were eliminated altogether. Evidence from stable isotopes, faunal remains, and the paleopathology of human skeletons suggest that Neandertals consumed a low diversity diet centered on large and medium-sized terrestrial herbivores. In contrast, populations of early AMHS consumed a slightly more diversified diet. The effect of this dietary shift would have resulted in greater diversity of essential nutrient intake and lower maternal and fetal-to-infant mortality, which in turn would have sparked population increases during the early phases of occupation of the European continent by populations of AMHS. Greater diversity of essential nutrient intake by early populations of AMHS may have been one factor that led to the replacement of Neandertals in Europe during OIS 3. Published by Elsevier Ltd.