Early Humans Mastered Plant Processing 170,000 Years Ago, Challenging the Paleolithic Meat-Eater Myth
The common belief about our ancient human ancestors is that they were primarily carnivores, hunting animals for the main source of food. This “Paleolithic meat-eater” trope is widely believed by both general and scientific audiences, and has even spawned its own popular modern diet fad.
A new study, published in the Journal of Archaeological Research, suggests that this trope is more fiction than fact. Instead, researchers suggest that processed plant foods played an important part in the early human diet, as well as helped us survive and thrive across shifting global climates.
“This ability to process plant foods allowed us to unlock key calories and nutrients, and to move into, and thrive in, a range of environments globally,” said co-author Monica Ramsey in a press release.
Read More: Did Neanderthals Eat Seafood? Neanderthals Cooked and Ate Crab Off the Coast of Portugal
The Paleo Diet: Fact vs. Fiction
In the conversation about humans incorporating processed plant foods into their diet, the Broad Spectrum Revolution is usually considered to be when this change occurred. The Broad Spectrum Revolution hypothesis suggests that, due to factors such as population pressure and increasingly unstable environments, humans began expanding their diets beyond the few staples they had been accustomed to. This broadening of culinary horizons is said to have set the groundwork for our transition to a more agricultural-based life.
In contrast, the new study proposes a different idea: the broad-spectrum species hypothesis. This hypothesis proposes that humans have always been good at providing themselves with a diverse diet based on the food products available, rather than being forced into one due to external pressures.
Additionally, researchers suggest that our ability to eat a diverse diet means we have been relying on processed plant foods for much longer than other scientists believe, and that this ability helped shape our evolution as a species.
How Did Early Humans Process Plant Foods?
One of the reasons that the Paleolithic meat-eater trope was able to take hold was that it is easier to find evidence of animal remains in the archaeological record. However, there are still extensive examples of early humans and their ancestors processing plant foods much earlier than at the dawn of agriculture.
“We often discuss plant use as if it only became important with the advent of agriculture. However, new archaeological discoveries from around the world are telling us our ancestors were grinding wild seeds, pounding and cooking starchy tubers, and detoxifying bitter nuts many thousands of years before this,” explained Anna Florin, the other co-author of the study.
Across the globe, there have been analyses of plant macrofossil assemblages that show evidence of the use and processing of many plant foods. These processing activities include cooking, peeling, fat extraction, pounding, and roasting, which could be used alone or in multi-step, labor-intensive sequences. By processing plant foods, early humans were able to extract nutrients and energy from plants, as well as make them taste better and be easier to digest.
There is also even earlier evidence of thermal processing of plant foods, dating back as far as 170,000 years ago, at early human and Neanderthal sites in Africa, Southwest Asia, and southern and low-altitude Europe.
How Processed Plant Foods Shaped Our Evolution
Overall, the research team suggests that early humans’ ability to process plant foods directly relates to our evolutionary success as a species. In this study, humans were never hyper-carnivores and instead were highly flexible in our diets, adapting to changes in environment and culture.
“Our species evolved as plant-loving, tool-using foodies who could turn almost anything into dinner,” concluded Ramsey.
Read More: Neanderthals May Have Run Their Own Fat Factories 125,000 Years Ago
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