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Sun, 28 Sep 2003 16:22:08 -0500 |
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For those who are seeking to emulate a Paleolithic diet, the choice
regarding tubers is somewhat ambiguous. _If_ we use the rule that says we
should exclude foods that became available to Homo sapiens in amounts
sufficient to be significant in natural selection only in the Neolithic or
a short time before (and this would, by definition exclude all foods
native to the Americas, because there were no humans on these continents
before this time), this excludes cassava, potato, sweet potato and some
foods broadly described as 'yams'.
But there are many tubers native to Africa and some of these were thought
to have been a staple for Paranthropus bosei (though it is doubtful if
there is a direct line from this species to our own).
What are the scientific names of such tubers?
Are any of these ancient African yams available in greengrocers in Western
countries?
Are there any suppliers of seed tubers?
(I'd like to grow some in the garden.)
Perhaps there is a website with information about these topics - any
suggestions?
It is possible that living off these tubers may have contributed to the
survival of the Homo population bottleneck during the prolonged droughts
about 100,000 years ago.
Keith
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