<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>
 
In message Tue, 21 Nov 1995 19:09:31 -0500,
  Don Wiss <[log in to unmask]>  writes:
 
> At 04:58 PM 11/21/95 -0500, Laura Johnson-Kelly <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>>           There are debates about whether or not Neanderthals were good
>>   hunters, but all archaeologists agree that the subsistence base for
>> both Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons was hunting and gathering, though the
>>  percentages and types of plant and animal foods in their diets may have
>>  varied.  Probably both groups ate gluten-free diets.
>
> Or very low-gluten, as those living in the colder climates would have
> gathered some gluten grains, along with everything else.
 
Don,
 
Stands of wild grains are very rare in nature, and grains are not worth
harvesting unless they occur in sizable groups (there are lots of studies on
this).  The only stands of gluten-containing grains that I know of were said
to occur in the Fertile Crescent area of the Near East.  The
gluten-containing grains are not a natural part of northern/temperate flora.
My conclusion is that except for groups happening to live in certain very
tiny areas within the Near East, no one else would have ingested gluten in
pre-agricultural times.
 
Laura
[log in to unmask]
Ithaca, NY, USA
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Ithaca, NY, USA