Philosophy
An interesting story. I often wondered how many lives were lost before ancient man realized which plants were poisonous, medicinal, and tasty and the same with hunting technology or even sex and communication.
Neanderthals cooked and ate plants and vegetables, a new study of Neanderthal remains reveals.
Researchers in the US have found grains of cooked plant material in their teeth.
The study is the first to confirm that the Neanderthal diet was not confined to meat and was more sophisticated than previously thought.
The research has been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The popular image of Neanderthals as great meat eaters is one that has up until now been backed by some circumstantial evidence. Chemical analysis of their bones suggested they ate little or no vegetables.
This perceived reliance on meat had been put forward by some as one of the reasons these humans become extinct as large animals such as mammoths declined due to an Ice Age.
But a new analysis of Neanderthal remains from across the world has found direct evidence that contradicts the chemical studies. Researchers found fossilised grains of vegetable material in their teeth and some of it was cooked.
Although pollen grains have been found before on Neanderthal sites and some in hearths, it is only now there is clear evidence that plant food was actually eaten by these people.
"We have found pollen grains in Neanderthal sites before but you never know whether they were eating the plant or sleeping on them or what."
End Quote Professor Alison Brooks George Washington University
Professor Alison Brooks, from George Washington University, told BBC News: "We have found pollen grains in Neanderthal sites before but you never know whether they were eating the plant or sleeping on them or what.
"But here we have a case where a little bit of the plant is in the mouth so we know that the Neanderthals were consuming the food."
More like us
One question raised by the study is why the chemical studies on Neanderthal bones have been wide of the mark. According to Professor Brooks, the tests were measuring proteins levels, which the researchers assumed came from meat.
"We've tended to assume that if you have a very high value for protein in the diet that must come from meat. But... it's possible that some of the protein in their diet was coming from plants," she said.
This study is the latest to suggest that, far from being brutish savages, Neanderthals were more like us than we previously thought.
- Clone A Neanderthal?...only In Science Fiction
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Philosophy
Neanderthals cooked their vegetables
An interesting story. I often wondered how many lives were lost before ancient man realized which plants were poisonous, medicinal, and tasty and the same with hunting technology or even sex and communication.
"Neanderthals cooked and ate vegetables"
by
Pallab Ghosh
December 27th, 2010
BBC NEWS
by
Pallab Ghosh
December 27th, 2010
BBC NEWS
Neanderthals cooked and ate plants and vegetables, a new study of Neanderthal remains reveals.
Researchers in the US have found grains of cooked plant material in their teeth.
The study is the first to confirm that the Neanderthal diet was not confined to meat and was more sophisticated than previously thought.
The research has been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The popular image of Neanderthals as great meat eaters is one that has up until now been backed by some circumstantial evidence. Chemical analysis of their bones suggested they ate little or no vegetables.
This perceived reliance on meat had been put forward by some as one of the reasons these humans become extinct as large animals such as mammoths declined due to an Ice Age.
But a new analysis of Neanderthal remains from across the world has found direct evidence that contradicts the chemical studies. Researchers found fossilised grains of vegetable material in their teeth and some of it was cooked.
Although pollen grains have been found before on Neanderthal sites and some in hearths, it is only now there is clear evidence that plant food was actually eaten by these people.
"We have found pollen grains in Neanderthal sites before but you never know whether they were eating the plant or sleeping on them or what."
End Quote Professor Alison Brooks George Washington University
Professor Alison Brooks, from George Washington University, told BBC News: "We have found pollen grains in Neanderthal sites before but you never know whether they were eating the plant or sleeping on them or what.
"But here we have a case where a little bit of the plant is in the mouth so we know that the Neanderthals were consuming the food."
More like us
One question raised by the study is why the chemical studies on Neanderthal bones have been wide of the mark. According to Professor Brooks, the tests were measuring proteins levels, which the researchers assumed came from meat.
"We've tended to assume that if you have a very high value for protein in the diet that must come from meat. But... it's possible that some of the protein in their diet was coming from plants," she said.
This study is the latest to suggest that, far from being brutish savages, Neanderthals were more like us than we previously thought.
- Clone A Neanderthal?...only In Science Fiction
"Should We Clone Neanderthals?" by Zach Zorich March/April 2010 Archaeology If Neanderthals ever walk the earth again, the primordial ooze from which they will rise is an emulsion of oil, water, and DNA capture beads engineered in the laboratory of...
- Peruvian Indians And Good Ole Popcorn
"Study suggests ancient Peruvians 'ate popcorn'"January 18th, 2012BBC NEWSA new study suggests that people living along the coast of northern Peru were eating popcorn 1,000 years earlier than previously thought.Researchers say corncobs found at...
- Bug Food?
This will not work anytime soon except at weird partys. It is more than just making the insect palatable but convincing people of the concept. McDonald's new entree...the Happy Roach or Egg and Cricket Biscuit? "Replace cattle? Edible insects produce...
- Cooking...the Good And The Bad
"Cooking Has Been Both Boon and Bane for Humans" by Michael Wall February 13th, 2009 Wired Raw-food devotees take note: Your diet is not in any way natural. Humans are as adapted to cooking our food as cows are to eating grass, or ticks are to sucking...
- King "corn"
This article from Chemical & Engineering News does make one wonder about the sustainability of having one primary food source in the complex food chain. If the "corn" link is broken as in severe drought or disease, it would have a devastating effect...