Dante Carrillo
The Paleolithic or Old Stone Age diet is the modern interpretation of the diet humans ate during the Paleolithic era, about 2.5 million years ago. The diet of early humans is believed to have included a variety of foods, with meat playing a significant role in their evolution. The diet of prehistoric humans was influenced by seasonal availability, resources, climatic conditions, and their biotope. Early humans likely consumed plants, fruits, tubers, seeds, nuts, flowers, roots, insects, honey, fish, and small game animals. The inclusion of meat and marrow from large animals is considered a major evolutionary change in the human diet, providing fuel for brain growth and allowing the gut tissue to shrink.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Time Period | 2.6 million years ago to the start of the agricultural revolution |
| Diet | Meat, marrow, aquatic foods like turtles, crocodiles, fish, plants, fruits, tubers, seeds, nuts, flowers, roots, insects, honey, shellfish, small fish |
| Tools | Stone tools, fire |
| Cooking | Cooking meat using fire |
| Brain Growth | Energy from meat and marrow fuelled brain growth |
| Gut Size | Smaller guts due to less bulky plant fiber |
| Calories | 73% of hunter-gatherer societies derived more than half their calories from meat |
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Meat and marrow
The feedback loop between brain growth and diet is an important factor in human evolution. As brains grew larger, early humans developed more effective tools for hunting and gathering energy-rich animal foods, further fuelling brain growth. Meat and marrow provided the extra energy needed for this process, and the smaller guts that resulted allowed for the expansion of the brain.
While meat and marrow were important, it is important to note that early humans had a varied diet that included a range of foods. Some researchers argue that early humans may have initially targeted fat, marrow, and brains rather than meat when they first started butchering animals. Lean meat is energetically expensive to metabolize and can lead to protein poisoning in the absence of fat in the diet. Therefore, scavenging abandoned carcasses for marrow and brains may have been a crucial source of extra nutrients for early humans before they developed more complex hunting technology.
The strongest evidence for meat and marrow consumption by early humans comes from butchery marks found on bones. Cut and percussion marks, resulting from skinning, disarticulation, and bone breakage, have been discovered on Early Stone Age fossil assemblages. Additionally, tooth marks and percussion marks on bone surfaces provide further evidence of meat and marrow consumption.
Today, some nutrition influencers advocate for meat-heavy diets, claiming that we should eat like our ancestors. However, this idea is refuted by studies of the remains of our forebears and observations of living primates and modern-day hunter-gatherers. While meat did play a significant role in our evolution, early human diets were much more varied and included a range of plant-based foods as well.
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Stone tools
One notable example is the discovery of stone tools dating back approximately 3.4 million years ago in the Afar region of Ethiopia, specifically at the Dikika site. These tools bore cut marks and percussion marks, indicating their use in carving meat and breaking bones to extract marrow. This evidence suggests that early human species, such as Australopithecus afarensis, or "Lucy's species", were utilising stone tools and consuming meat much earlier than previously thought.
Another significant discovery related to stone tools and diets is attributed to the species Homo habilis, commonly known as "handy man" or "handy/skilful human". Homo habilis is considered one of the earliest members of the Homo genus and was likely an early maker of stone tools. Fossil evidence found at Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania, also known as Oldupai Gorge, supports this claim. The site yielded fossils of Homo habilis alongside stone tools, suggesting a connection between the species and tool craftsmanship.
Additionally, the discovery of stone tools at Nyayanga, on the shore of Lake Victoria in Kenya, provides further insight into early human diets. These tools, estimated to be up to three million years old, are considered the oldest known example of Oldowan technology. The tools were found alongside the remains of Paranthropus, an early human relative. This discovery raises questions about whether Paranthropus bosei, or "Nutcracker Man", could have been the original maker of the tools previously attributed to Homo habilis.
The use of stone tools had a significant impact on early human diets. It allowed them to scavenge and hunt for larger animals, providing access to meat and other nutrients. The development of stone tools also led to the consumption of bone marrow, which provided additional sustenance. This shift in diet influenced the neural expansion and increasing brain size of early humans, as suggested by anthropologists.
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Hunter-gatherers
The diet of early hunter-gatherers was influenced by their environment and the availability of resources. For example, the Hadza tribe from central Tanzania, residing in a tropical forest, had a diet mainly consisting of plants, fruits, tubers, and game animals, with honey as one of their most popular food groups. In contrast, Nordic tribes subsisted mainly on fish and other seafood.
The incorporation of meat and marrow from large animals into the human diet is considered a major evolutionary change, occurring by at least 2.6 million years ago. The diet of the earliest hominins was likely similar to that of modern chimpanzees, including large quantities of fruit, leaves, flowers, bark, insects, and meat. The invention of sharp-edged stone tools allowed early humans to butcher large animals and access a rich new source of calories.
However, studies of the remains of our forebears and observations of living primates and modern-day hunter-gatherers suggest that the diet of early humans was not primarily meat-based. While meat played a significant role in our evolution, early humans also consumed a variety of other foods, including plants, fruits, and seafood. Lean small game animals were the main source of animal protein, as they were more readily available, and dairy products were likely not included as animals had not yet been domesticated.
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Plant-based foods
Early human diets were largely dictated by the availability of plants and animals in their immediate vicinity and further afield, as well as the seasons, climatic conditions, and the biotope they lived in.
The diet of early hominins was probably similar to that of modern chimpanzees, including large quantities of fruit, leaves, flowers, bark, and insects. Some hominins may have also consumed hard food items such as seeds, nuts, roots, and tubers. The diet of the Paranthropus in East Africa evolved towards a C4/CAM specialization, which is otherwise unknown in catarrhine primates. Fire and stone tools allowed early humans to process and cook these plant-based foods.
The discovery of fire and the use of stone tools enabled early humans to expand their dietary options and process a wider variety of plant-based foods. They could now cook and soften hard-to-eat plants, making them more digestible and nutritious. This "predigestion" process reduced the energy spent by their guts on breaking down raw food, allowing for better absorption and extraction of more fuel for their brains.
Evidence suggests that early humans in coastal regions relied heavily on seafood, including shellfish and smaller fish. Insects and their products, such as honey and honeycombs, were also a significant part of their diet, especially as a fallback food source.
The Paleolithic diet, often referred to as the "Stone Age" diet, is a modern interpretation of the diet humans followed during the Paleolithic era, approximately 2.5 million years ago. This diet includes plant-based foods such as tubers, seeds, nuts, legumes, and flowers.
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Dairy products
However, the ability to digest lactose is a relatively recent development in human evolution. While dairy fats and milk residue discovered in Neolithic pottery across Europe suggest that humans consumed milk products around 6,000 years ago, these early farmers were likely lactose intolerant. Researchers at the University of York analysed plaque on the teeth of Neolithic Britons, finding traces of beta-lactoglobulin, a protein present in cow, sheep, and goat milk. This indicates that early Britons consumed enough milk products to leave traces on their teeth, despite being unable to digest lactose.
To overcome this intolerance, early humans may have processed milk to reduce its lactose content. For example, by turning it into cheese. The ability to digest lactose may have appeared in European humans around 4,000-5,000 years ago due to a genetic mutation. Today, the lactase persistence trait is extremely common in some populations, such as northern Europe, where over 90% of people are lactase persistent. However, in other populations, such as Asia and South America, lactase persistence is much rarer.
Despite the varying ability to digest lactose, dairy products remain a recommended part of a healthy diet. A "planetary health diet" proposed by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation includes the equivalent of one glass of milk per day. This diet aims to maximise health while minimising environmental impact, suggesting that dairy products continue to play a role in modern diets.
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Frequently asked questions
Early humans ate a variety of foods, including plants, fruits, tubers, seeds, nuts, roots, flowers, insects, honey, fish, and meat.
Early humans ate the meat of small game animals and large animals. They also consumed marrow and brains from the carcasses of large animals.
Early humans obtained meat through hunting and scavenging. They used sharp-edged stone tools to butcher animals and access meat and marrow.
The diet of early humans was influenced by the availability of resources in their immediate environment, the seasons, climatic conditions, and the biotope they lived in.
The diet of early humans evolved as they adapted to climate change, learned to cook food using fire, and developed tools for hunting and food preparation. Over time, there was an increase in the consumption of animal proteins, including dairy products.
