People visit exhibits inside the Smithsonian Hall of Human Origins at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, Thursday, July 20, 2023.Jacqueline Martin/AP Hide caption
Toggle caption Jacqueline Martin/AP
People visit exhibits inside the Smithsonian Hall of Human Origins at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, Thursday, July 20, 2023.
Jacqueline Martin/Associated Press
We might imagine our ancient human ancestors roaming the prehistoric plains with spears, hunting down direwolves, mastodons, and saber-toothed cats for dinner.
But a study published this week in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution uses new technology to find that seven people were part of the Iberomaurs, who lived in what is now Morocco between 13,000 and 15,000 years ago. Analyzed the bones and teeth of different hominins. Scientists believe that humans before us ate sweet charred acorns, pine and pistachio nuts, wild oats, and wild peas.
It might be on the menu of an upscale vegan restaurant in Santa Monica right now.
The discovery follows other recent research showing that Neanderthals and Homo sapiens did more than just spear, slaughter and devour woolly mammoths. They patiently soaked and ground beans, lentils, and wild mustard for their meals.
What will we learn next from anthropologists and other scientists? That a group of Neanderthals scoured the earth in search of the most aromatic shiitake mushrooms to use in chimayo chili risotto? Was the fire discovered so the cave dwellers could read the wine list?
Why have we misunderstood the delicate cuisine of ancient humans for so long?
Brianna Pobiner, a paleoanthropologist at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, said the bones of slaughtered mammals are often the most visible part of the landscape at prehistoric sites.
But science can now go even deeper. “Newer, more chemistry-based techniques, such as isotope analysis, can decipher the types and proportions of plant foods that ancient people consumed,” she says.
Scientists can now also analyze “fossilized plant remains that may have been tightly attached to ancient human teeth,” she said.
Of course, this was centuries before mint-flavored dental floss was invented.
You may be wondering what other misconceptions we've had about our ancestors over the centuries.
We shared with award-winning chef Hugh Acheson a list of popular ingredients for Iberomaurus cuisine: charred sweet acorns, pine and pistachio nuts, wild oats and wild peas. He tells us, “Make Stone Age granola bars or muesli, which are high in protein to carve rocks into the wheels of the family sedan. Or hot porridge topped with a little honey.” Told.
As our Neanderthal ancestors would say, “Big appetite!”
