The consequences of Middle Paleolithic diets on pregnant Neanderthal women

http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.lib.utexas.edu/10.1016/j.quaint.2011.07.002

The authors critique various assumptions made by others about Neanderthal lifeways by showing that Neanderthal births would be impossible under these conditions.

3. Lessons learned
There are a large number of potential lessons to be learned here. Principle among them is that researchers should consider the possibility that previous models have, to one degree or another:

1. Under-appreciated the Neanderthals’ abilities to regulate body temperature;
2. Under-appreciated the Neanderthals’ abilities to efficiently hunt terrestrial animals;
3. Under-appreciated the degree of sexual division of labor within Neanderthal groups generally, and for pregnant and lactating women, specifically;
4. Under-appreciated the amount of non-mammal foods eaten by Neanderthals, such as fish, shellfish, insects, birds and eggs;
5. Under-appreciated the amount of plant foods eaten by Neanderthals;
6. Under-appreciated the differences in metabolic processing of essential nutrients such as protein between Neanderthals and modern humans;
7. Under-appreciated the role of micronutrient deficiencies to Neanderthal extinction;
8. Exaggerated the degree of mobility in the average Neanderthal group compared to modern hunting-gathering societies; and
9. Exaggerated the degree of close-encounter, dangerous hunting techniques that Neanderthal women participated in.