Diet analysis reveals pre-historic meals among the Loma San Gabriel at La Cueva de Los Muertos Chiquitos, Rio Zape, Mexi
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(2020) 12:25
ORIGINAL PAPER
Diet analysis reveals pre-historic meals among the Loma San Gabriel at La Cueva de Los Muertos Chiquitos, Rio Zape, Mexico (600–800 CE) Elisa Pucu 1,2 & Julia Russ 3 & Karl Reinhard 1 Received: 31 December 2018 / Accepted: 16 December 2019 # Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Coprolites have been a source of study for archeologists due to several reasons: they not only provide information on the life and nutritional habits of ancient individuals but also on their health. In this paper, we processed 10 coprolites collected at La Cueva de Los Muertos Chiquitos (600–800 CE), Rio Zape, Mexico, with acetolysis solution for pollen analysis. The number of pollen grains/gram of each coprolite sample was quantified along with the macroscopic remains of these samples. The main food item ingested by the population was maize, followed by Agave. Squash blossoms were also part of their food source determined by the presence of pollen grains. In macroremains, we identified rodent bones, plant seeds, and Agave fibers. The macroscopic analysis of the samples fits with the analysis of smaller remains, giving an idea of the meal represented by each coprolite analyzed. We relate these results to previous microbiome studies of coprolite samples from the same archeological site and provide a discussion on the relevancy of studying macro- and microremains that can be applied to microbiome interpretation analysis. Keywords Diet . Archaeoparasitology . Coprolites . Pollen
Introduction For gut microbiome studies, coprolites from La Cueva de Los Muertos Chiquitos (CMC), Rio Zape, Durango, Mexico, have become model samples for analysis (Hagan et al. 2019; Schnorr et al. 2016; Tett et al. 2019a, b; Tito et al. 2008, 2012). Coprolites from the site have proven preservation of gut microbiome DNA (Hagan et al. 2019; Tett et al. 2019a, b; Tito et al. 2012). Because ancient DNA (aDNA) is so well preserved in these samples, they have been used to assess the comparative success of extraction methods (Hagan et al.
This article is part of the Topical Collection on Coprolite Research: Archaeological and Paleoenvironmental Potentials * Elisa Pucu [email protected] 1
Hardin Hall, School of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA
2
Laboratório de Biologia Molecular de Parasitos e Paleoparasitologia, Instituto Biomédico, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
3
Morrison Microscopy Core Research Facility, Center for Biotechnology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA
2019). These studies revealed bacterial DNA in distinct coprolite series, a fact that underscores the ideal preservation of CMC coprolites for gut microbiome work. We believe that it is useful to know the dietary background of the site and are presenting evidence from analyses in this paper. We undertook the analysis of dietary remains from 10 additional coprolites selected from remains recovered during a parasitological analysis of 100 coprolites by Morrow
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