Did early man eat mostly meat?!
Did early man eat mostly meat?
A new study of 28,000-year-old human bones suggests the ancient man ate meat - lots of it, and very little else.
"Their diet was about 90 percent meat," said a scientist in England. A lifestyle so centered on meat means that the early man was able to organize complex hunts that brought down big and dangerous game.
The researchers probed the diet of early man by measuring the isotopic ratios of nitrogen in skulls and jawbones recovered from a cave in Croatia.
"Our bones record the isotope signatures of the foods we have eaten in our lifetimes," another scientist said in a statement. "By measuring these isotope signatures in fossil bones, we can reconstruct aspects of the diets."
Bones formed from a diet rich in meat contain a high ratio of an isotope called nitrogen-15, Trinkaus said. The nitrogen-15 ratio of Neanderthal, he said, was almost like that of an African lion, which means a diet of meat and almost nothing else.
4 months ago
veito da costa, I totally agree with you. We as humans have incisors because it is meant for us to eat meat.
4 months ago
Eavaya, I totally agree with you. This is clear proof that we as humans were meant to eat meat.
Answers:
4 months ago
veito da costa, I totally agree with you. We as humans have incisors because it is meant for us to eat meat.
4 months ago
Eavaya, I totally agree with you. This is clear proof that we as humans were meant to eat meat.
If you want to give scientific proof of a fact, you have to rely on real facts and not just single out and alter the parts that are convenient for you.
Said article states:
"Neanderthal-like hominids first appeared in Europe, probably migrating from Africa, around 300,000 years ago, Pettitt said. The "classic" period of Neanderthal presence in Europe started about 120,000 years ago. By about 28,000 years ago, the Neanderthal was gone from the fossil record, he said.
Modern humans arrived in Europe about 32,000 years ago, about 4,000 years before the Neanderthal disappeared.
Some experts have suggested the more primitive Neanderthal was simply overwhelmed and outhunted by his more sophisticated cousin. Others say the Neanderthal was biologically absorbed by early modern humans and disappeared as a distinct and separate species.
Trinkaus said the new study does not settle that debate, but it does show the Neanderthal was not just simple, stupid and brutish.
'This study implies a much higher degree of social organization complexity than is frequently attributed to the Neanderthals. They were much more equal to modern humans in many ways.'
One big difference, though, was diet.
Studies of bones from the early modern humans in Europe suggest they had a more varied diet, eating smaller animals, such as rabbits, and lots of fish - up to 30 percent of their diet."
So, we are not talking about the "early man" here, but about Neanderthals.
And if you read again more carefully, it states that early humans
only included 30% of meat into their diet.
Source(s):
Said article was published at: http://www.crystalinks.com/earlyhumanoid...
It can be found at the bottom of the page under the title: "Neanderthals ate meat and more meat, study suggests "
depends in where in the world you mean meat is all year round but most plants and fruits are seasonal .yes most would eat a lot of red meat
Yes
That's why the human race have incisors in their mouth....
I wouldn't find it hard to belive that the main source of food was meat. Perhaps it wasn't the 100% ideal thing (we all know how important plant fibre is to prevent bowel cancer)...but it probably covered a huge portion of the early humans' nutritional needs.
Meat is obviously very nutritious, and also there are many essential amino acids present in it. This means that these amino acids can ONLY be taken in from meat (and from no-where else) and are vital to life functions. This, i think, is clear proof that as humans, we are supposed to eat meat as much as we are suposed to eat five veggie-portions per day!
Yes. He also ate seasonal fruit. Looking back at the pictures of early man, none of them was obese and I am thinking that perhaps the Atkins diet is based on that!
The reason that the human species has survived so successfully over all other animals is that it has adapted to different diets, which has enabled it to survive on the predominant or seasonal food that becomes available. This may be meat in some cases in others its fish and elsewhere a combination of meat,fish and vegetables. So my answer is that in certain parts of the world early man possibly only ate meat but in other parts he will will have eaten fish or what ever else was available.
I think this speaks for Its self........ If you look at the television programs of native tribes still in existence to-day...Their diet consists mainly of meat.....With added benefits of roots and berries......These tribes are dying out because modern man has abused this planet and there is a shortage of meat for them to carry on their existence......among lots of other things........
Just to add ....I have just finished my Sunday dinner.....Lots of crispy pork with loads of different veg.....No spuds....delicious!!!
No, they were vegetarians until they discovered fire.
It entirely depends on the location, in Anglo - Saxon and early medieval England the poorer individuals ate very little meat and consumed a diet primarily of grain and vegetables. Yet in other societies where pastoralism was favoured more meat products would have been consumed
1,000s of years ago people ate what they could.
Now-a-days we have tons of choices
I really hope you're not comparing us to our ancestors...quite sad
Well guess what, we are not cavemen or cavewomen anymore. We'll be the judge of what we eat, and how dare you come on here telling us about that we were meant to eat meat, you eat what you want and I'll eat what I want.
yes, but i also think he eat plants, seeds, fruits and so on... and everything was nice and fresh, without spray and all other things we use today....
see Genisis
And how long was early man's lifespan?
30-40 years?
Maybe you are right, but I would have to agree with "Cat lover" on the fire. Did you also know that they are able to tell from the teeth and bones the age that the human died at? The oldest one they have found died at age 50, most died at age 30 to 40 as "Vegan and proud" said.
Because of early mans short lifespan, you better find some new evidence that early man was a vegetarian, for your new case against vegetarianism. See you next time (=
Yea i think thats what they mostly ate!
Yes early humans such as Neanderthals are believed to have had a high meat diet but this was not because they-like you-believed eating meat was right.It was because they had no choice.They lived during the ice age when summers were short and plant food was unavailable for most of the year.
Other primitive human societies had the same problem because of seasons or living in dry areas.It is only in recent years that world trade has meant fresh plant food is available to us all year round.
But having to eat meat isn't the same as it being the healthiest diet-few Neanderthal's and early modern humans are believed to have lived beyond their mid 30's and this may well be in part due to such an unbalanced diet.
If you ask a nutritionist you will be told that there is little chance of you living a healthy life on a 90% meat diet.On the other hand you can live a very healthy life on a totally meat free diet.Surely that proves that although we may be capable of digesting meat we are really built to live on plants!
Early human societies may have had a culture that placed high value on hunting but they also believed in human sacrifice.Do you think we should still do that too?
This is 2007 foxie not 2000BC we now have the choice of what diet we eat so let people enjoy the diet of their choice-even if it is your hated vegan diet!
Why does it matter?
its obvious you get off on imposing your views on other people. Let me save you some effort, you dumb@ss. No matter HOW MUCH you spew your useless info in this section, you WILL NOT convert any of us veggies to your way of assinine thinking. We do NOT have incisor teeth. We have a majority of flat teeth, like all other vegetarian creatures. If we were "designed" to eat meat, we would have the capacity to stalk it, catch it, kill it, and eat it in its raw form. The simple fact is, that if YOU had to go out and catch, slaughter, butcher your own meat, and dispose of the remains of the animal, you would not be equiped to do so, and would likely become a vegetarian if you couldnt walk into Publix and buy a piece of dead animal. Piss off, you idiot
That's right, an early diet contained lots of meat. 90% I'm not so sure about though, especially in the times of year when there are fruits and vegetable around for the picking. Looking at primitive men today, although their diet does contain as much meat as they can get, which varies from place to place, with some people at 100% in places where plant foods aren't around and others much lower in places where there are, or there are less animals.
Still, in every primitive tribe still knocking around today, meat is very important, and I'd regard that as proof of what you're saying.
@ Cat Lover
That's wrong, they ate meat long before they discovered fire. That nowadays we don't eat raw meat (much, some people do, and some primitive tribes still do) doesn't mean we were always like that.
What's more, we ate meat before we even began to hunt, by scavenging. Some half ape suddenly thinking 'hey chaps, why not go and kill an animal ourselves and eat it fresh' was probably one of the most influential people in recent human evolution, as many of our social skills only developed because of the demands involved with hunting.
@ Gabriella
Y'see, I first read that as 30% fish. I'm not sure, but even so, frankly I'd reckon it was more than that, depending on seasons. In spring and summer with an abundance of edible plant life yes, their diet may have been more plants than meat, but in winter when almost all plant life is seemingly dead, I'd think by far the majority would be meat.
@ Vegan&Proud
Do you not think a shorter lifespan may have had more to do with poor healthcare and a very physically demanding life. I mean, a few hundred years ago lifespans were much shorter than they are now, but by all accounts we eat more meat now than we did in that impoverished time.
@ Greg N
Can you think of any other animal in the world for which the diet it eats in the wild is unhealthy? No, because there aren't any.
If humans have spent a few million years eating meat, evolution is going to favour those with a better tolerance to meat, and to say a diet of meat - which man indisputably has eaten for millions of years - is unhealthy suggests evolution has failed.
Look at Eskimo's and the Masai, whose diets are 100% meat or animal products. Yes their life spans are shorter than ours but they're a lot longer lived and healthier than the majority of primitive people in the world. The Masai have neighbours whose diet is primarily vegetarian, whose health and stature is a lot less than theirs.
@ Beebs
I'm sure I've said this all to you before, but regardless, you're points are ridiculous.
We do have incisor teeth. If you're suggesting otherwise you're an absolute cretin and I don't think anyone is going to take you seriously. Feel the inside of your mouth for heaven's sake.
What you meant to say was 'humans don't have big incisors', which is a much less stupid point.
That we do not have claws, talons, or incisors to hunt proves nothing. When early hominids ate meat they scavenged it, as vultures do, using their fingers to get the sinews and meat other animals couldn't. It was only after that that they began to hunt the meat themselves, and only much later they began to cook it. It is interesting that even now if someone was brought up eating raw meat he would have no problem with it.
The last few million years of human evolution have revolved completely around tools. We used advanced stone tools long before we began to hunt our own meat, and as such there was no need for evolution to bestow us with large claws or teeth to kill prey.
Hell, there are still primitive bushmen in Africa who catch prey like giraffes by chasing it till it collapses of exhaustion. Tell them they're not equipped.
You have asked this one before. Neanderthals ate it and they all DIED OUT (allegedly). Cro-magnons ate both and were omnivores . Omnivore means that we have the unique ability to eat flesh and veggies. We can survive on either or both but eating just meat can cause more diseases and serious cancers . Vegetarian and vegan diets reduce the risk of cancer and heart disease SIGNIFICANTLY!!!!
Vegan and proud said it all, short sweet and to the point . What a clever young 'un he is!! Andy B is insulting everyone just like you do - are you the same person?
maybe, i dont know, nor do i care. i am vegetarian.
Well, early humans and even humans today survive on diets of mainly "meat". But they ate pretty much the ENTIRE animal. This way vitamins and other nutrients are consumed as well. This icludes OFFAL the internal organs and entrails of the animal, this is where most of the nutrients are and the "meat" or muscle provides mainly the protein. A diet consisting of mainly "meat" or muscle is deficient in vitamins and nutrients and will result in malnutrition and ultimately death. As for the Neanderthals, there was one study that explored the idea that they didnt DIE OUT but were BRED OUT. The study was initiated by the discovery of skeletal remains that had attributes from both Neanderthal and Homosapiens in an area where both Neanderthal and Homosapiens are believed to have existed at the same time.
Early man ate fruit and berries and nuts because that was all he was able to 'catch'. Anyone who tells you any different is wishful thinking and full of crap.
not onl;y ancient man but lok at the native Eskimos about 60 70 years ago ...they ate mostly meat fish etc ... and were very healthy .....and most of it was eaten raw....