"STARCH4SAPIENS"

The ANR program "Starch4Sapiens", led by S. Condemi, questions the chronology of the emergence of the starch food niche by confronting Neanderthals and Denisovians (archaic humans, AHs) to the first Homo sapiens (Hs). To do so, the program studies biology (variations in growth and development of teeth, micro-wear, body proportions and oral pathologies), genomics (variations in the number of copies of genes for the metabolization of starches for example) and behavior (emergence of grinding stones). The results could represent major data in the fields of paleoanthropology, genomics and environmental archaeology, and will contribute to understanding the positive selection promoting the demographic expansion of Hs and the disappearance of AHs (linked to the regular consumption of starches). They could also shed light on the origin of diet-related diseases and, from an evolutionary medicine perspective, contribute to the prevention and management of chronic diseases.

A first study day will be dedicated to anthropologists (in September 2023), and a second one extended to geneticists and prehistorians working on grinding stones (planned for the end of 2023). Finally, the closing colloquium will take place in 2025 at the CA Foscari University in Venice (Italy).