A new study challenges this notion by presenting compelling isotopic evidence of a strong preference for plants among 15,000-year-old hunter-gatherers from Morocco. This is the first time a significant amount of plant consumption has been measured for a pre-agricultural population, shedding new light on the dietary practices of ancient human societies.
Conducted by an international team of scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology , Géoscience et Environnement Toulouse , and the Institut National des Sciences de l'Archéologie et du Patrimoine , the study examines the diet of individuals associated with the Iberomaurusian culture discovered in the cave of Taforalt, Morocco.
Furthermore, this study is the first to use zinc isotopes preserved in enamel to determine the diet of ancient populations in Africa. North Africa is a key region for the study of human evolution and modern human dispersal. Having a tool that allows us to further explore human diet deep in time in this region will provide valuable insights into human dietary patterns and adaptability in different environments.
Hunter-gatherers can help us understand the conditions that children may be psychologically adapted to because we lived as hunter-gatherers for 95% of our evolutionary history. And paying greater ...