Very nicely put Phil - fair and balanced.

I would also like to point out that as time goes by, everything seems to be getting pushed further and further back into antiquity. Especially the use of fire. First it was 50,000 years ago, Then over 100,000. Then 350,000. Then 750,000. Now, (and I have read the supporting evidence), a million and a half.

Which brings up the next question. What is the likelihood that humans, and especially "modern" humans (of the last 150,00 or so years), would not have at least tested the cooking of various foodstuffs? Sorry, raw-foodists, the argument that cooking is "unnatural" just doesn't hold water (and this statement is coming from someone who prefers most of my food raw or barely heated above room temperature).