Eating habits of ancient people
Food - one of the most mysterious aspects of prehistoric life. As you can guess, the rocks and the skeletons are preserved well, and any organic matter decomposes very quickly. Therefore, scientists need to excel and to resort to various tricks (and, of course, a considerable share of luck to be present) to reveal culinary secrets of those times. However, the researchers found some interesting facts that could completely change the view of prehistoric humans. It is possible that they were more advanced than they thought.
1. Paleolithic treated flour
As shown surprisingly ancient remains found in the 32,000-year-old grinding stones, "cavemen" were eating wild oats long before the agricultural revolution. E., In fact it turned out to be the most ancient oatmeal in the world. It chetyrehstupenchantogo made via a process that is likely included heating and milling. The result is oatmeal, which is then boiled or baked cakes of it. Ancient group such as this may have already eaten and processed grain and before, so scientists continue to scrutinize such stones in search of other food debris that could change history.
2. Cheese and lactose intolerance
Crock pottery, pierced holes shocked scientists when biochemical analysis revealed it to milk fat, showing that the Neolithic people in 5500 BC. e. already made cheese. Cheese, for the production of which is to be divided on the milk curds and whey by adding bacteria and rennet, at that time was a product that can change your lifestyle. He provided food of animal origin without the need for the slaughter of animals, which increased the agricultural potential of the group. It might also prove why humans domesticated animals at a time when most people are lactose intolerant, because the cheese products contain much less lactose than pure milk. It is also provided in the diet is very necessary reserve of fat.
3. Surprisingly rich Palaeolithic pantries
Vegetables can not be stored for thousands of years, so it is almost impossible to tell which plants are included in the Paleolithic menu. But if vegetables saturate with water, then under the condition of oxygen deprivation, they can be preserved, and for such a long time. Researchers at the excavations in northern Israel found such vegetables as well as many other products that hit the scientists who did not expect that this was part of the diet of people in nearly 800,000 years ago. In particular, at least 55 species of plants have been found, including nuts, seeds, and roots.
During the excavations also revealed evidence of the most ancient examples of controlled a fire in Eurasia, it was necessary to convert the most poisonous plants in edible products. Ancient people supplement their diet with small amounts of meat and fat.
4. Fossil feces proven health Neanderthals
Sometimes archeology - a funny science. For example, which is only a situation where researchers divide the 50,000-year-old fossilized feces Neanderthals to see what color inside. With the help of spectroscopic analysis of fossilized excreta (coprolites) finally managed to find a diet of Neanderthals. They ate a lot of meat, including meat of deer and mammoths, but also to diversify their food plants to balance the diet. This discovery changed the standard representation of the people of that time ate only meat.
5. Ancient toothpicks
Even with a healthy diet is inevitable appearance of holes in the teeth. Researchers again "pushed" certificate suffering from toothache back a few thousand years, thanks to the excavation of 14 160-year-old skeleton with evidence of dental "operations." The skeleton belonged to a 25-year-old man, who cleans cavities in the teeth of flint tools. Thus, at least some of the Palaeolithic people knew that the cavities can lead to infections and trying to cope with them. It was definitely very painful, but effective in terms of avoiding more serious injuries. Paleolithic people also used toothpicks made of wood and bone.
6. A unique diet of Homo naledi
More than 300 000 years ago several hominid species lived in southern Africa, constantly staying in the fight for resources. One of these species of hominid, Homo naledi, was able to find its own niche in the culinary, have started to use the grain for food. Dental examination showed that the teeth Homo Naledi "were largely similar to the African Australopithecus and Paranthropus massive, but they were more and more wear-resistant. Tooth wear suggests that Homo naledi also ate more tough foods are often covered with dust or soil. Most likely, it was phytolites or "fossil plants." In the end, Homo naledi developed molars to resist strongly granular food.
7. The earliest barbecue in the history of
The ancestors of humans began walking upright 6 or 7 million years ago, but it took another 5 million years before there was a more developed brain Homo erectus. Researchers believe that the reason there was a spark due to cooking, because it gave the ancestors of people easier access to more sources of digestible food. The earliest evidence of cooking was found in Wonderwerk Cave in South Africa. Analysis revealed deep inside caves traces artificial breeding fire and multiple bone fragments, is heated to high temperatures. were also found burned chipped stones, indicating that the re-use of fire in the same place.
8. Putting in a pot
Cooking over an open fire was used even earlier hominids, but to provide food, covered with sand and ash. The next step in the evolution was the use of cooking pots to improve the diversity and quality of products. People have made the first clay pots in the Far East about 16,000 years ago, but the pots were used for cooking about another 6000 years as a discovery in the Libyan Sahara showed. While the Sahara full of meadows, rivers and lakes. Remains in pots show that people ate almost all green, be it leaves, grains, seeds or water plants.
9. Mesolithic mustard
When the ancient ancestors of people balance their diet, their next culinary innovation was to give it a better taste. They have achieved this more than 6000 years ago with the help of one of the most common spices in the world, mustard. Numerous Mesolithic pots for cooking, found in Germany and Denmark, still retained remnants of mustard seed and leaf petioles spadefoot. Researchers believe that the ancestors pounded mustard seeds in a pan and add the leaves with garlic taste for the best flavor. This discovery marked the shift between the consumption of food solely because of its caloric or nutritional value to a more modern hedonistic eating.
10. Ancient snack turtle
In the cave Kesemen in the center of Israel there was no one for thousands of years, until the road construction workers accidentally discovered it in 2000. Inside, the researchers found an old housing and 400,000-year-old snack, turtle, who was killed by silicon with a knife and fried in the shell. Prehistoric hunter-gatherers who lived in a cave Kesemen for 200 000 years, eat a variety of foods. They probably used the turtle as an appetizer, side dish or dessert, in addition to an assortment of vegetables. The main dish was the meat of bulls, deer and horses.