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Sender:
Paleolithic Eating Support List <[log in to unmask]>
Subject:
Pliocene diet
From:
Keith Thomas <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Mon, 7 Feb 2005 05:17:49 -0500
Reply-To:
Paleolithic Eating Support List <[log in to unmask]>
Parts/Attachments:
text/plain (27 lines)
Here are three paragraphs from a review of the newly-published book:  "Man the Hunted:
Primates, Predators and Human Evolution"
---------------------
"Australopithecus afarensis was probably quite strong, like a small ape," Sussman says. Adults
ranged from around 3 to 5 feet and they weighed 60-100 pounds. They were basically smallish
bipedal primates. Their teeth were relatively small, very much like modern humans, and they were
fruit and nut eaters.

But what Sussman and Hart discovered is that Australopithecus afarensis was not dentally pre-
adapted to eat meat. "It didn't have the sharp shearing blades necessary to retain and cut such
foods," Sussman says. "These early humans simply couldn't eat meat. If they couldn't eat meat,
why would they hunt?"

It was not possible for early humans to consume a large amount of meat until fire was controlled
and cooking was possible. Sussman points out that the first tools didn't appear until two million
years ago. And there wasn't good evidence of fire until after 800,000 years ago. "In fact, some
archaeologists and paleontologists don't think we had a modern, systematic method of hunting
until as recently as 60,000 years ago," he says.
----------------------
This review is at:

http://www.infozine.com/news/stories/op/storiesView/sid/5693/

but Google will find you more.

Keith

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