5,300-year-old iceman's last meal was remarkably high in fat
The oldest naturally preserved ice mummy ate a last meal extremely high
in fat content, scientists have discovered. Photo courtesy of the South
Tyrol Museum of Archaeology
The oldest naturally preserved ice mummy ate a last
meal extremely high in fat content, scientists have discovered.
Researchers published a new study in Current Biology on Thursday,
reporting insights into the nutritional habits of European individuals
in the Copper Age, more than 5,000 years ago. The study is the first
in-depth analysis of the stomach contents of the mummy known as Otzi, or
the Iceman, providing a glimpse into our ancestor's ancient dietary
habits.
The Iceman was discovered in 1991 by German tourists in the Eastern
Italian Alps. Scientists were initially unable to identify the Iceman's
stomach because it had moved up during the mummification process. But in
2009, during re-investigation of CT scans, scientists spotted it and
launched an effort to analyze its contents.
Researchers used a complementary mutli-omics approach combined with
microscopy to reconstruct the Iceman's last meal. The high proportion of
fat came from wild meat from ibex and red deer, cereals from einkorn
and traces of toxic bracken, according to Frank Maixner of the Eurac
Research Institute for Mummy Studies in Bolzano, Italty. Bracken is a
genus of large ferns.
Maixner and his colleagues suspect he took the bracken as medicine to
treat intestinal problems related to parasites found earlier in his gut.
Or perhaps he used the fern's leaves to wrap food and ingested the
toxic spores unintentionally. The analysis indicated that the wild meat
was eaten fresh or dried.
"The stomach material was, compared to previously analyzed lower
intestine samples, extraordinarily well preserved, and it also contained
large amounts of unique biomolecules such as lipids, which opened new
methodological opportunities to address our questions about Otzi's
diet," Maixner said.
The researchers combined classical microscopic and modern molecular
approaches to determine the exact composition of the Iceman's diet prior
to his death. It's a broad-spectrum approach which allows them to make
their inferences based on the ancient DNA, proteins, metabolites and
lipids.
They found ibex adipose tissue as the most likely fat source. Half the
stomach contents were composed of adipose fat. They expected the
high-fat diet because of the extreme alpine environment where the Iceman
lived and was found.
"The high and cold environment is particularly challenging for the human
physiology and requires optimal nutrient supply to avoid rapid
starvation and energy loss," said Albert Zink, who also participated in
the study. "The Iceman seemed to have been fully aware that fat
represents an excellent energy source."
The analysis also identified traces of the original gut bacterial
community in the Iceman's intestinal contents. The researchers plan to
conduct further studies to reconstruct the ancient gut microbiomes of
the Iceman and other mummified human remains.
https://www.geezgo.com/sps/30406
No comments