Image credit: Abel Grau, CSIC Communication.
It seems the popular paleo diet, which emphasizes meat as the staple of prehistoric human diets, may not accurately reflect the true eating habits of our ancestors. Recent findings from studies conducted in Morocco and the Andes reveal our hunter-gatherer ancestors, often portrayed as primarily meat-eaters, were actually more dependent on plant based diets.
A recent study published in the Nature Ecology & Evolution journal examined the chemical markers in the bones and teeth of the Iberomaurusians, an ancient group from the Paleolithic era who lived around 15,000 years ago. They found that plants dominated their diet, making up about 80% of what they ate. The researchers pointed out, “This distinct dietary pattern challenges the prevailing notion of high reliance on animal proteins among pre-agricultural human groups.”
Through isotopic analysis, which lets us peek into the past dietary habits and environmental interactions of ancient peoples through their remains, the evidence was clear. Elements like zinc, strontium, carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur in their bones suggest a diet predominantly based on plant foods. Specifically, nitrogen analysis indicated that plants constituted up to 80% of the Taforalt cave inhabitants’ diet.
This doesn’t mean they never ate meat, but plants were a bigger part of their diet than you might expect.
Interestingly, the study also noted an abundance of cavities in the buried remains found in Taforalt caves, suggesting a diet rich in “fermentable starchy plants” like beets, corn, rye, and cassava.
Similarly, over in the Andes, archaeologists at the University of Wyoming analyzed remains of 24 individuals from two burial sites in the Andes Mountains in Peru and found that the diets of hunter-gatherers from around 9,000 years ago consisted of about 80% plants.
The isotopic composition of remains from these burial sites provided evidence that plant foods like wild tubers played a major role, further debunking the notion that early humans primarily consumed meat.
Randy Haas, an assistant professor at the University of Wyoming shared “Conventional wisdom holds that early human economies focused on hunting – an idea that has led to a number of high-protein dietary fads such as the paleo diet.”
“Our analysis shows that the diets were composed of 80% plant matter and 20% meat.”
Haas also explained one of the reasons we might have skewed our perceptions of hunter-gatherers who were widely believed to be meat-eaters is because “Stone tools and animal bones preserve well while plant parts tend to rapidly degrade and thus are rarely observed in the archaeological record.”
These discoveries are super important today because they challenge our ideas about what’s “natural” for us to eat. It significantly shifts our understanding of prehistoric diets, suggesting that our ancestors may have been more gatherer than hunter. The reliance on a wide array of plant foods highlights a sophisticated knowledge of the environment and suggests that plants were integral to survival and health. Plus, they’re a reminder that being plant-based isn’t just a trendy diet; it’s backed up by a long history of human health. So next time you hear about the paleo diet, remember—it’s not all about the meat. Our ancestors were pretty into their greens, too!