Tom Barber wrote:

> I do find it a bit of a stretch that humans 50,000 years ago (about the time
> early man was reaching Australia) were unaware of grains. I find it more
> likely that some grains might have been eaten in season, although probably
> very little compared to agricultural folk.

They probably ate anything they found that was edible but most likely it made up
an incredibly small part of their diet.  Native Americans gathered various grass
seeds--more than 50 different varieties, including Johnson grass, dropseed,
giant dropseed, barnyard grass and panic grass.

One Indian woman described grass-seed collecting in this way:  "We would work
all day and feel as though we had done so much and there would be about a cupful
of seeds."

L'shalom,

Marishka