Ancient communities were more plant-based than thought
Dr. Justine Butler |
21 May 2024
minute reading time
![Potatoes](https://cdn.viva.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Potatoes.webp)
A new study using human bone isotope chemistry to model the diets of early Holocene-era humans in the Andean highlands has found that plant foods made up 70 to 95 per cent of these foragers’ diet, with tubers like potatoes probably dominating. This finding adds to a growing body of evidence suggesting early human populations relied more heavily on plant foods than previously thought – more gathering than hunting!
Chen JC, Aldenderfer MS, Eerkens JW et al. 2024. Stable isotope chemistry reveals plant-dominant diet among early foragers on the Andean Altiplano, 9.0–6.5 cal. ka. PLoS ONE. 19 (1) e0296420.