On Mon, 14 May 2007 16:58:23 -0400, Keith Thomas <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

  When I think of the worst aspects of neolithic diets, I have
> in my minds eye
> hoardes of emaciated Egyptian slaves living a life of drudgery and  
> eating a gruel of weevly
> grains under the blazing sun. But the sturdy dairy-farming peasants in  
> the Swiss mountains
> described so eloquently by Weston Price are also neolithic. I guess  we  
> have to be careful
> how we use the term.
>
> What image do other readers have in their mind's eye when they hear the  
> term "neolithic
> diet"?

  When I think of the worst aspects of neolithic diets, I have  in my minds  
eye hoards of short, emaciated English serfs (not polite to call them  
slaves, though they were and are) living a life of drudgery and eating a  
gruel of weevily grains in their wretched climate.
The weevils were the good part - fresh meat, eh?

Shakespeare has an army hiding in a wheat field - modern historians  
explain this as tall wheat. They never mention IIRC that the soldiers were  
wee tiny fellows.

William