Winter sources of ascorbic acid for Pleistocene hominins in northern Eurasia

Abstract

Abstract Hominins emerging from Africa in the Pleistocene required sources of vitamins in addition to sources of energy and substance (carbohydrates, proteins and fats). Most of their vitamin requirements could be provided by eating the flesh of herbivores but vitamin C is in low concentrations in animal muscle tissue. Lack of vitamin C causes fatal disease of scurvy. In southern Eurasia hominins would have been able to harvest fruits and vegetables throughout the year but as they migrated further to the north, they would encounter regions in which no plants were growing in mid-winter. Vitamin C is enriched in organ meats but their mass was probably too low for adequate provision. Storage of summer crops of fruit was possible. Hominins could however fulfil ascorbic acid requirements by drinking aqueous extracts from the needles of pines and other conifers which contain adequate amounts of vitamin C to satisfy human needs. We show evidence of pine needle and related consumption in Paleolithic sites.