Not Just Mammoths: Neanderthal Diet May Have Included Fly Larvae
Did Neanderthals Eat Maggots? New Study Challenges Long-Held Assumptions About Prehistoric Diets Maggots... Meat, and Isotopes: A New Look at the Prehistoric Menu
For years, researchers believed that Neanderthals were apex predators who primarily hunted large mammals like mammoths and bison. Their nitrogen isotope (δ15N) values placed them at the top of the food chain, often even higher than wolves or lions. But a groundbreaking new study published in Science Advances on July 25, 2025, challenges this conventional wisdom. Led by Melanie M. Beasley of Purdue University, the study suggests that these high δ15N values might not come solely from eating fresh meat — but also from consuming maggots thriving in decomposing animal carcasses.
By analyzing nitrogen isotopes, scientists attempt to reconstruct ancient diets. Neanderthals have consistently shown nitrogen levels that far exceed what is expected from consuming herbivores alone. This new research offers a bold hypothesis: Neanderthals may have regularly consumed meat that had begun to rot — along with its maggot infestation — as a deliberate nutritional strategy.
Were Maggots a Food Source?To test this idea, Beasley and her team conducted isotope analyses on fly larvae from three fly families (Calliphoridae, Piophilidae, and Stratiomyidae), all collected from human muscle tissue undergoing decomposition at the University of Tennessee’s Forensic Anthropology Center. The results were striking: while the decomposing muscle tissue showed moderate increases in δ15N values (up to 7.7‰), the maggots themselves had values ranging from 5.4‰ to an astonishing 43.2‰ — far above the normal values for any known terrestrial or aquatic animal protein source.
In simpler terms, maggots not only reflect the elevated nitrogen signature of the decaying tissues they consume, but amplify it to such a degree that their consumption could dramatically affect a human’s isotopic profile. These larvae, rich in both fat and protein, may have been an unrecognized yet essential part of the Neanderthal diet.
Ethnographic Echoes: “We Don’t Eat the Smell”Interestingly, this hypothesis isn’t just based on chemical data — it is also supported by historical and ethnographic records. Indigenous communities from Greenland to Siberia are documented to have consumed decomposing meat and even actively sought out maggots as food. In many such cultures, maggot-infested meat was considered not a last resort, but a delicacy. One Arctic explorer once described his companions eating writhing maggots from rotting caribou meat with delight. When questioned, they simply replied: “What are maggots but live caribou meat? They taste just the same.”
Even today, the Sardinian cheese casu marzu, which contains live fly larvae, is considered a traditional specialty. These cultural practices illustrate that maggot consumption is not necessarily rooted in starvation but can be embedded in culinary tradition.
Given the unpredictable and often lean returns of hunting in Ice Age Europe, Neanderthals may have stored meat in caches for weeks or months. These stores, subjected to natural decomposition, would have inevitably attracted flies and become infested with larvae. Rather than discarding these caches, Neanderthals — like many modern foragers — may have consumed both the fatty organs and the larvae.
Were Neanderthals Really Carnivores?This new interpretation also forces a reevaluation of the Neanderthal diet’s “hypercarnivore” label. Human metabolism simply cannot tolerate the extremely high levels of protein consumed by true predators like lions or wolves. Modern humans, including cold-adapted groups like the Inuit, reach a toxic threshold at about 300 grams of protein per day. Consuming more can lead to “rabbit starvation,” a dangerous condition marked by nausea, fatigue, and even death due to protein poisoning.
Neanderthals, therefore, could not have subsisted on lean meat alone. Their calorie needs would have required them to prioritize fat-rich tissues — bone marrow, brain, organ meat — and possibly maggots. These larvae, particularly in their late instar stages, are high in fat and can survive in decomposition fluids and nutrient-rich soils for months. In some cases, they even overwinter in hibernation-like states, offering a year-round food source in cold environments.
Beasley’s team emphasizes that it is not the muscle meat but the fatty tissues — and the nutrient-dense maggots infesting them — that likely contributed to Neanderthals’ elevated δ15N levels. These findings challenge the oversimplified view of Neanderthals as meat-heavy apex predators and instead suggest a more nuanced, adaptable dietary strategy.
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