The diet of Neanderthals was rich in mussels, shellfish, seabirds and seals, but included also deer, turtles, pine nuts.
The study that appeared today in Science reveals that Neanderthals had a varied diet and were able to source food from the sea as far back as 100,000 years ago.
The research work, coordinated by Portuguese archaeologist João Zilhão with Diego E. Angelucci of the University of Trento, and focused on fossil food remains in a cave near Lisbon, reassesses the intellectual capabilities of Neanderthals: they had some technological knowledge, they were capable of symbolic reasoning and were familiar with marine and coastal environments.
You can find all the details in the press release.