While many modern human being choose for avegetarianorvegandiet , new research advise that our ancestors incur the majority of their nutrition from meat , and only radiate their solid food intake to include more plant at the very terminal of the Stone Age . Published in theAmerican Journal of Physical Anthropology , the young study indicate that homo were acme predators for around 2 million years , with numerous species within theHomolineage engaging in “ hypercarnivory ” .
Determining the trophic level – or position within the food web – of ancient man is tricky , as we ca n’t directly celebrate the feed behaviors of our other root . Most attempt to do so have therefore focused on present - day hunter - collector groups , acquire that the practice of such culture reflect those of primitive humankind .
However , the authors of this modish field of study excuse that such comparisons are highly problematic , as changes to the ecological landscape painting will inescapably have forced humans to alter their hunting and gather preference over clock time . For representative , the loss of megafauna likemammothsand other orotund animals produced a major geological fault in human diets .
The investigator therefore attempted to remodel the diet of ancient human and determine the trophic layer of our ancestors throughout the Pleistocene , which start 2.5 million year ago and ended around the time of the farming gyration , some 11,000 class ago . guide a multidisciplinary approach , the squad examine over 400 scientific study cover areas such as genetics , metabolism , morphology , archaeology , and fossilology so as to determine whether early humans were specialised carnivore or more general omnivores .
Their investigation pay 25 sources of evidence that powerfully suggest that our predecessors were hypercarnivores . For instance , stomach acidity is a assay-mark ofcarnivorousanimals , as this see to it that any pathogens lurking in meat are killed . The fact that modern humans ’ stomachs are more acidic than most carnivores ’ points to the fact that our antecedent were well conform to consume the meat of enceinte animals they run , which would have fed a community for day or even weeks and would therefore have been full of bacteria .
This is backed up by the fact that several archaic hominids were morphologically adapted to Holman Hunt megafauna . Homo erectus , for instance , was equipped with shoulders that were idealistic for throwing spears but unsuitable for Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree climbing , suggesting that the species probably ate more kernel than plant .
Furthermore , factor that alleviate the digestion of plant acids and starch did not become widely expressed within the human genome until late in the Pleistocene . According to the study authors , this indicates a lack of evolutionary pressure to trade to a plant - based dieting while the hunting was skilful . Yet as brute sources become scarcer , humans that consumed more vegetation enjoyed higher endurance rates .
According to the researcher , this late electrical switch to a more omnivorous diet provide the spark for the Second Coming of USDA , leading to a change in the type of stone tools used by ancient humans . Looking through the archaeological records , they found that tools associated with processing plants only appear around 40,000 years ago and increase in frequency around the clock time of the agricultural revolution . Prior to this , most prick were designed for hunting , with the same types of artifacts observe across all areas inhabited by humans .
" archeological evidence does not look out over the fact that Harlan Stone - historic period humans also deplete plant , " excuse study generator Miki Ben - Dor in astatement . " But according to the finding of this subject area plant only became a major component of the human dieting toward the end of the era . "
