Did Neanderthals paint images of seals on cave walls near Malaga, Spain? If so, it would be a stunning find. Our Homo sapiens ancestors created the oldest previously known cave paintings 30,000 years ago: the beautiful Chauvet paintings in southern France. The newly discovered paintings in the Nerja Caves near Malaga in southern Spain are, surprisingly, estimated to be around 43,000 ago - 13,000 years older than those of Chauvet.

However, there is one small problem: as far as we know, Homo sapiens was not known to be in that region of Spain 43,000 years ago. This strongly suggests Neanderthals created the paintings and thus possessed imagination and skill not previously attributed to them.

The paintings are believed to represent seals that would have been part of the Mediterranean Neanderthal diet. The seal paintings and additional views of the cathedral-like Nerja Caves can be seen here.

Researchers will attempt to confirm when the paintings were created by determining the age of the pigments. Some specialists caution Homo sapiens may have been in southern Spain during that time after all and could have painted the images.

Eagle Talon Ornaments

Recent evidence discovered by researchers from Trent University in Ontario, Canada and the Université Bordeaux in France suggests Neanderthals wore eagle talons as ornaments or jewelry. According to the researchers:

"… it seems reasonable to argue that Neanderthals in France and Italy regularly used terminal phalanges of birds of prey. … One possibility is that they were used as ornaments...”

The abstract published in PlosOne concludes:

Here we show that, in France, Neanderthals used skeletal parts of large diurnal raptors presumably for symbolic purposes… The presence of similar objects in other Middle Paleolithic contexts in France and Italy suggest that raptors were used as means of symbolic expression by Neanderthals in these regions.

Images of the eagle talons are here.

Seafaring Boats

Not only could Neanderthals have painted images on caves walls and made talon ornaments, they may have also built seafaring boats!

Neanderthal stone tools have been found “on the Greek islands of Lefkada, Kefalonia and Zakynthos.” Until recently, it was believed that these islands were connected to the mainland during the Paleolithic which would have allowed Neanderthals to spread there easily. Now, researchers at the University of Patras in Greece believe they have ruled out this option. In a study published in the Journal of Archeological Science, the researchers found that “…when Neanderthals were in the region, the sea would have been at least 180 metres deep.”

If Neanderthals indeed reached these Mediterranean islands by boat, their seafaring would have reached distances from 5 to 12 kilometers from shore. They may have also reached Crete, an impressive 40-kilometer journey. How Neanderthal seafaring may have developed is suggested in the abstract:

Seafaring most likely started some time between 110 and 35 ka BP and the seafarers were the Neanderthals. Seafaring was encouraged by the coastal configuration, which offered the right conditions for developing seafaring skills according to the “voyaging nurseries” and “autocatalysis” concepts.

Neanderthals painting in cavernous cathedral-like caves, wearing furs and talon necklaces, feasting on seafood, and paddling boats in to reach pristine Mediterranean islands - now that's a new image of these “cave men.” Being called a Neanderthal may become upscale.

John Oro

March 9, 2012

SUNDAY

SUNDAY PALEO / March 11, 2012

John Oro

March 9, 2012

SUNDAY

View of the Anthropocene. In this case, Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. Image: NASA Earth Observatory

THE ANTHROPOCENE

One year ago, I posted on how the proposal for a new geological epoch, the Anthropocene, got its start:

Paul Crutzen coined the term “anthropocene” while attending a scientific conference. When the chairman kept using the term Holocene to describe the current epoch, Crutzen exclaimed “'Let's stop it, we are no longer in the Holocene. We are in the Anthropocene.'"

Although the epoch has not been formally approved, it is catching attention. Time magazine has just named it one of their 10 Ideas That Are Changing Your Life. I picked up an issue, flipped to the article and was nonplussed to read the title: Nature is Over. What led the author, Bryan Walsh, to take this disturbing view?

Human activity now shapes the earth more than any other independent geologic or climatic factor.

True. This essentially is the definition of the Anthropocene, also known as the Age of Man or the Age of Humankind. Walsh quotes Crutzen:

Human dominance of biological, chemical, and geological processes on Earth is already an undeniable reality. It is no longer us against 'Nature.' Instead, it's we who decide what nature is and what it will be."

Walsh continues:

Humans have been changing the planet ever since the dawn of agriculture 10,000 years ago, when Homo sapiens began altering the land - and the plants and animals growing on it - rather than simply living on it as hunter and gatherers.

Is Walsh's conclusion, "There's no getting back to the Garden," correct? Should we even try? What is the role for nature in the relentless Anthropocene? Is environmentalist Stewart Brand correct: "We are as gods. And we have to get good at it?" Write and send your impressions.

PALEO DIET

As noted in a previous SUNDAY PALEO, Berlin, Germany was the first to have a Paleo restaurant. Soon, ‘Palæo’, a "24-hour takeaway," will be opening in Copenhagen, Denmark. The Danish menu is posted here. According to founder Thomas Rode Andersen:

"It's all about going back to something original, going back to what we are designed to eat and the way our bodies are designed to work..."

CBS Miami recently ran video segment titled Paleolithic Diet Gaining Modern Followers:

MODERN DISEASES

Although gluten-free is just one step toward Paleo, it is important to be informed on gluten allergy and gluten sensitivity. These disorders allows us to understand at least one of the mechanisms underlying the impact of grains on health. While gluten allergy is a verified medical disorder, there is still some debate on gluten sensitivity. However, the "evidence is mounting" as noted in the recently posted Wall Street Journal article New Guide to Who Really Shouldn't Eat Gluten:

Evidence is mounting that gluten sensitivity does exist. ... And in a study published last year, researchers in Australia showed in a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial that subjects with suspected gluten sensitivity had substantially fewer symptoms on a gluten-free diet than control subjects who unknowingly ingested gluten.

PALEO RECIPES

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John Oro

March 3, 2012

SUNDAY

SUNDAY PALEO / March 4, 2012

John Oro

March 3, 2012

SUNDAY

ANTHROPOLOGY

Here’s some interesting archeological news: hunter-gathers built groups of “long-term dwellings” in the Middle East 10,000 years before farming. Science News reports that “mobile hunter-gatherers” living 20,000 years ago “hunkered down for months at a time in spots that featured rivers, lakes and plentiful game.”

Discoveries in and around hut remnants at a Stone Age site called Kharaneh IV include hearths, animal bones and caches of pierced seashells and other apparently ritual items.

Furthermore, archaeologist Lisa Maher:

“… expects evidence of additional four- to five-person huts will turn up at the site, which is about the size of four U.S. football fields.”

Since the first grinding stones did not appear until around 15,000 years ago, grains were not the reason these Paleolithic ancestors were able derive enough food from the nearby land to allowed them to stay put. I suspect, in addition to the plentiful game suggested by the researchers, improved hunting and fishing technology allowed these larger groupings to develop.

Chesapeak Bay. Image: NASAWhile the dwellings described above were being built in the Middle East (give or take a few thousand years), other Paleolithic ancestors may have been making their way to North America. Not from Siberia, but from Iberia! Acccording to anthropologist Dennis Stanford, they settled in what is now Virginia. A hunting blade found near mastodon bones is among the evidence being uncovered. Brian Vastag, of The Washington Post National, writes:

A mastodon relic found near the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay turned out to be 22,000 years old, suggesting that the blade was just as ancient. Whoever fashioned that blade was not supposed to be here.

According to our current understanding, the first Paleo Americans arrived from Asia by crossing Beringia to reach Alaska. However, some archeologists and anthropologist suspect that:

… mysterious Stone Age European people known as the Solutreans paddled along an ice cap jutting into the North Atlantic. They lived like Inuits, harvesting seals and seabirds.

FITNESS

There is little argument that our Paleolithic ancestors were fitter than we are. Just imagine searching for food almost daily, maintaining a fire, porting water, and repairing your shelter. Actually, using modern hunter-gatheres as a guide, our Paleolithic ancestors did all this and still had more leisure time than we do. It was their lifestyle that kept them fit: natural exercise and rest, though certainly not on a fixed schedule.

Lance C. Dalleck, Ph.D., a specialist in cardiac rehabilitation at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, calls it their “‘activity pattern’” way of life”. In A Paleolihic Program for the 21st Century, he recommends replicating their “activity pattern” as a means of avoiding disease:

Some have suggested that replicating the activity patterns of indigenous humans—to the extent that this is possible and practically achievable in today’s society—could be an effective way to reduce the incidence of these diseases. This article examines this premise and offers practical recommendations for exercise frequency, intensity, duration and mode for realigning our daily physical activities with the classic levels expected within our unchanged Paleolithic genome.

Dalleck breaks down the hunter-gatherer’s fitness “activity pattern” into four aspects: Daily Physical Activity, Primitive Resistance Training, Interval Training, and Comprehensive Periodization. He also list modern activities that can be used to meet these goals.

If you are pursuing natural fitness in the natural world, consider the work of the leading Paleolithic movement specialist, Erwan Le Corre of MovNat. Le Corre breaks down “evolutionary fitness” into three physical activities: locomotive skills, manipulative skills, and combative skills. In The Evolutionary Foundation of Naturalness, Le Corredescribes his approach and also provides a great graphic on the activities used to develop these skills.

While Le Corre’s approach is usually performed in the natural environment, Mark Sisson's plan may be done with limited equipment at a nearby park or at home. The program focuses on 5 movements:

Humans have been squatting, horizontal pressing, vertical pressing, climbing, and using their torsos to resist pushing and pulling forces for millions of years.

(We, Homo sapiens spapiens, are about 200,000 years old.)

These authors are not keen on what happens in a gym. However, I find that one can perform many of these physical activities, or their rough equivalents, in a regular gym. In the winter, while some brave frigid weather to exercise outdoors, I take to the gym, wear FiveFingers, and do a combination of “natural” and traditional exercises.

OK. You’ve done your fitness activities and are developing an “activity pattern” lifestyle. Now, it’s time to cook. An Internet search will lead you to many of the Paleo cookbooks now available, or, you can try the Paleo recipes below.

PALEO RECIPES

John Oro

March 1, 2012

HEALTH

Brain Health: Omega-3 fatty acids slow brain shrinkage

John Oro

March 1, 2012

HEALTH

New research is revealing the benefits of omega-3 fatty acids on brain health, in particular, on reducing loss of brain volume associated with ageing. This recent news report (PubMed abstract not yet available), adds to previous work by measuring the level of O3 in the subjects red blood cells over a 3-month period and correlating it to total brain volume as measured on MRI. The study of 1,575 subjects compared the brain MRI scans of the 25% with the lowest level of O3 to the rest of the group. According to the WSJ:

… participants with low levels of omega-3 fatty acids in their blood had slightly smaller brains and scored lower on memory and cognitive tests than people with higher blood levels of omega-3s. The changes in the brain were equivalent to about two years of normal brain aging…

The study is important because of its large size and because the subject’s O3 levels were measured instead of utilizing food diaries for an estimate of O3 intake. However, a more interesting, and perhaps revealing question would have been comparing the subjects in the lowest quartile to those in the highest quartile. This may have revealed omega-3 fatty acids provide an even greater protection from brain volume loss than the two years in the study.

Bottom line: To prevent or slow brain shrinkage, eat your fish or take an omega-3 supplement.

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Update 3/2/2012
Abstract of study published in Neurology