Madeleine Hull
The human diet has evolved significantly over the past 200,000 years, with early humans surviving on a variety of plant-based foods, nuts, meat, and seafood. The development of agriculture around 10,000 years ago marked a significant shift, as humans transitioned from hunter-gatherer communities to more settled farming lifestyles. While the specific diet of ancient humans varied depending on their geographical location and environmental conditions, evidence suggests that they were able to maintain a balanced diet and adapt intelligently to their surroundings.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Diet | Plant-based, including nuts, fruits, legumes, roots, tubers, rhizomes, and starchy foods |
| Diet | Meat, including game and small animals |
| Diet | Seafood, including shellfish and small fish |
| Diet | Insects and their products, including honey and honeycombs |
| Diet | Human flesh, as evidenced by remains from Belgium |
| Diet | Dairy, after the domestication of cattle 10,000 years ago |
| Tools | Stone tools |
| Fire | Used for cooking food |
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What You'll Learn
Meat and marrow
The diet of early humans 200,000 years ago, during the Middle Stone Age, included meat and marrow from large animals. This was a significant shift from the diet of earlier hominins, which was likely more similar to the modern chimpanzee diet, consisting of large quantities of fruit, leaves, flowers, bark, insects, and meat. The inclusion of meat and marrow provided early humans with calorie-dense resources, essential amino acids and micronutrients, which may have contributed to their larger brain size.
Evidence suggests that early humans used stone tools to extract marrow from bones, as seen from butchered animal remains and stone tools found together in Ethiopia, dating back 2.6 million years. This discovery provides clear evidence of meat consumption and the use of tools for butchering animals by early human ancestors.
The incorporation of meat and marrow into the human diet may have occurred even earlier. Fragments of bone from goat- and cow-sized mammals found in Dikika, Ethiopia, bear marks suggesting butchery by Australopithecus afarensis around 3.39 million years ago. These early hominins likely used sharp-edged stones to strip flesh from bones and blunt stones to access the marrow.
The diet of early humans was not exclusively meat and marrow. They also consumed plants, insects, and other animal parts such as brains. The inclusion of meat and marrow, however, had a significant impact on their nutritional intake, allowing them to increase their body size and fuel the growth of larger brains.
It is important to note that the diet of early humans varied depending on their environment and the availability of resources. For example, in colder climates, meat may have been necessary due to the limited availability of plant-based foods, while in hotter tropical climates, they had access to a wider range of plants. Additionally, the success of hunting and the availability of animal carcasses also played a role in the dietary habits of early humans.
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Nuts and fruits
Nut consumption by early humans is further supported by the high rates of tooth fractures in human fossils, similar to those seen in primates that eat hard objects like shelled nuts. Additionally, ethnographic studies of contemporary hunter-gatherer populations show that nuts were a part of the human diet in all parts of the world.
Fruits were also a significant part of the human diet in prehistoric times. Fruits such as figs, olives, plums, and pears have been around for millennia, with evidence of their consumption dating back to the Paleolithic era. For example, archaeologists have found evidence of 780,000-year-old figs in Northern Israel.
The inclusion of nuts and fruits in the diet of early humans is important as it provides a source of nutrients and calories. Hunter-gatherer communities relied on these foods, especially during times when meat, fruit, or honey were scarce. Nuts and fruits continue to be a vital part of a healthy diet today, with many proponents of the Paleolithic diet emphasizing the inclusion of these foods.
It is worth noting that the diets of early humans were likely more diverse and variable than what is depicted in modern interpretations. While nuts and fruits were consumed, early humans also incorporated meat, roots, tubers, and other plant foods into their diets.
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Plant starches and tubers
The diet of early humans was largely dependent on their environment and the availability of food sources. While meat played a crucial role in the evolution of the human diet, plant-based foods, including starches and tubers, were also a significant part of their nutrition.
Evidence suggests that early humans consumed a variety of plant-based foods, including starches and tubers. For instance, the discovery of starch granules on fossil teeth and stone tools indicates that humans may have been consuming grains and tubers for at least 100,000 years. Additionally, small pieces of charred tubers found at the Klasies River site in South Africa date back 120,000 years, providing evidence of early Homo sapiens cooking carbohydrates.
The ability to cook and consume plant starches and tubers offered several advantages to early humans. Cooking starches made the energy in them more accessible to the body, supporting brain development and fetal growth. Furthermore, the inclusion of starches in the diet may have been a critical step in human evolution, improving the quality of their nutrition.
Underground tubers, in particular, were a significant food source for early humans. This is supported by the study of tooth cavities in hunter-gatherer remains, which suggested the consumption of fermentable starchy plants. Additionally, the discovery of stone tools and plant remains in a limestone cave in Mozambique indicated the systematic processing of wild sorghum, a type of grass with edible seeds, over 60,000 years ago.
The consumption of plant starches and tubers varied among different populations of early humans. For example, the Hadza people of Tanzania, who are known for their hunter-gatherer lifestyle, include tubers in their diet along with game and honey. In contrast, the Tsimane of Bolivia derive most of their nutrition from the river, forest, or fields, incorporating a variety of plant-based foods.
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Insects and seafood
The human diet 200,000 years ago was largely dependent on the environment and location. Humans at this time were hunter-gatherers, and their diet was influenced by the availability of food sources in their surroundings.
Insects
Insects were a part of the human diet 200,000 years ago, particularly for early hominins. Insects provided a source of protein and were likely consumed alongside other food items such as fruits, nuts, seeds, roots, flowers, and leaves. The inclusion of insects in the diet may have varied depending on the specific geographic region and the availability of other food sources.
Seafood
For populations living near coastal regions, seafood played a significant role in their diet. Seafood, including shellfish and smaller fish, was a major component of their meals. The proximity to the ocean or moving rivers influenced the availability and abundance of seafood in their diet.
The inclusion of seafood in the human diet 200,000 years ago is supported by archaeological evidence. For example, at the site of Kanjera South in southwestern Kenya, which dates back to around two million years ago, early members of the Homo genus were found to have accessed a variety of mammals living in the surrounding grasslands, including antelopes and bovids. The presence of stone tools and animal bones bearing cut marks indicates the incorporation of meat into their diet.
Additionally, the diet of early modern humans (between 200,000 and 10,000 years ago) included a diverse range of food sources. While they consumed large game such as mammoths, bison, and reindeer, they also had a preference for plant-based foods, including starchy roots and tubers. This suggests that their diet was balanced and adaptable to their environment.
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Lactose tolerance
The diet of early humans 200,000 years ago likely consisted of meat and marrow from animals, as well as seeds, nuts, roots, and tubers. Archaeological evidence also suggests that early humans may have cooked their food.
Now, onto lactose tolerance.
Studies of ancient human DNA have shown that the genetic mutation for lactose tolerance first appeared around 5,000 years ago, thousands of years after milk consumption began. This means that humans were drinking milk for thousands of years before they developed the ability to digest it. While the exact reasons for the persistence of this mutation are still unknown, it is believed that famine and exposure to infectious diseases played a crucial role in its spread. During times of famine, consuming milk would have increased death rates, especially among those who were lactose intolerant. Therefore, those who could digest lactose were more likely to survive and pass on their genes. Additionally, in times of poor sanitation and increased pathogens, the ability to digest lactose may have provided a survival advantage by preventing dehydration caused by diarrhoeal diseases.
The development of lactose tolerance is a fascinating example of how human evolution has been shaped by our dietary habits and environmental factors.
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Frequently asked questions
The human diet 200,000 years ago was largely plant-based, with early humans eating a variety of plant starches, roots, tubers, rhizomes, legumes, fruits, and nuts. Nuts, in particular, were a major part of the human diet 780,000 years ago, with evidence of wild almonds, prickly water lilies, water chestnuts, acorns, and pistachios being found in an archaeological dig in Israel.
While humans did eat meat 200,000 years ago, it was not a significant part of their diet until around 2 million years ago when early humans began to incorporate large game into their diet more routinely.
Scientists and researchers use a variety of methods to determine the diet of ancient humans, including comparative analysis of the diets of great apes, environmental reconstruction, and the study of dentition and tooth wear, as different foods leave distinct markers on teeth.
