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A groundbreaking study delving into 780,000 year old food remains has cast new light on the eating habits of our prehistoric human ancestor hunter-gatherers.
The research unveils that the Hominini early humans who once roamed present-day Israel had a palate for an array of plant-based foods such as acorns, grains, legumes, and water plants.
This insight shifts the long-held view that early human diets were predominantly, if not exclusively, composed of animal protein.
The contributions of plant foods to prehistoric diets have tended to be sidelined, partly because their traces are less discernible in the archaeological record compared to more frequently preserved animal remnants like bones.
However, this latest discovery brings to light the detection of “starch grains” derived from a multitude of plants on basalt tools uncovered at the Gesher Benot Ya’aqov site, situated by the banks of the Jordan River in current-day Israel.
These starch granules are minuscule particles produced by vegetation, capable of living within earth and deposits, tool surfaces, crockery, and other ancient objects.
They serve as a valuabe resource in archaeology, offering conclusive data regarding dietary patterns and early farming techniques.
The study has revealed that hominins processed a diverse range of plant foods at least 780,000 years ago, predating the emergence of modern humans.
The starch grains were found to originate from various plants including acorns, grass grains, water chestnuts, yellow water lily rhizomes and legume seeds.
These carbohydrate-rich tubers, nuts and roots would have been a vital energy source for the prehistoric humans who consumed them.
The research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, also sheds light on the advanced methods early humans used to process plant materials.
The basalt tools discovered include mace-type objects and anvils, likely used to crack and crush plant foods.
The authors of the study noted: “The diverse plant foods vary in ecological niches, seasonality, and gathering and processing modes.
“In contrast to animal foods, wild plants often require long, multi-step processing techniques that involve significant cognitive skills and advanced toolkits to perform.
“These costs are thought to have hindered how hominins used these foods and delayed their adoption into our diets.”
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