The oldest human poo sample uncovered at a dig in Spain reveals that Neanderthals may have enjoyed an omnivorous diet, according to a study published Wednesday.

Scientists digging around an ancient Neanderthal campsite in El Salt, Spain have recovered five samples of what they believe to be the oldest human poop. Analysis of the sample date them to be around 50,000 years old, by far the oldest fecal matter ever recorded.

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Other than the age, the paper published in the journal "PLOS One" claims to offer groundbreaking evidence contradicting the popular opinion that ancient cavemen subsisted only on meat. The researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) found in two of the five samples chemical footprints that suggest the excessive meat eaters may have been omnivores.

Ainara Sistiaga, a visiting researcher at the MIT, and her team of researchers said that fossilized human feces are the perfect evidence "because you are sure that it was ingested," reported BBC.

Sistiaga went on to explain that "This molecular fossil is perfect to try to know the proportion of both food sources in a Neanderthal meal."

The researchers believe that the cavemen ate anything that was available within their region. Their meat predominant diet may have been supplemented by root vegetables and berries.

Previous studies on plant micro fossils found in Neanderthal teeth had already partially discredited the assumption that ancient cavemen's diet consisted purely of meat. Dr. Stephen Buckley, an archaeologist at the New York University, previously reported evidence of plant ingestion among the Neanderthals.

"It will be much harder, now, for people to dig their heels in and try to argue that Neanderthals just ate meat and not plants to any degree," Dr. Buckley told the BBC.

Tagsoldest human poo, neanderthals, cavemen, diet