Table Of ContentANCESTRALAPPETITES
This book explores the relationship between prehistoric people and their
food – what they ate, why they ate it, and how researchers have pieced
together the story of past foodways from material traces. Contemporary
humanfoodtraditionsencompassaseeminglyinfinitevariety,butallare
essentially strategies for meeting basic nutritional needs developed over
millionsofyears.Humansaredesignedbyevolutiontoadjustourfeeding
behavior and food technology to meet the demands of a wide range of
environments through a combination of social and experiential learning.
In this book, Kristen J. Gremillion demonstrates how these evolutionary
processeshaveshapedthediversificationofhumandietoverseveralmillion
years of prehistory. She draws on evidence extracted from the material
remains that provide the only direct evidence of how people procured,
prepared,presented,andconsumedfoodinprehistorictimes.
KristenJ.GremillionisanAssociateProfessorintheDepartmentofAnthro-
pology at The Ohio State University. She has published many articles on
human dietary variability in journals including American Antiquity, Cur-
rentAnthropology,andJournalofArchaeologicalScienceaswellaschaptersin
severaleditedvolumes.
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ANCESTRAL APPETITES
Food in Prehistory
kristen j. gremillion
TheOhioStateUniversity
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Firstpublished2011
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Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex
isbn978-0-521-89842-3(hardback)–isbn978-0-521-72707-5(paperback)
1.Prehistoricpeoples–Food. 2.Huntingandgatheringsocieties.
3.Foodhabits–History. 4.Foodpreferences–History. i.Title.
gn799.f6g74 2011
394.1(cid:3)209012–dc22 2010044632
isbn978-0-521-89842-3Hardback
isbn978-0-521-72707-5Paperback
CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracyof
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ToPaul
Letmenottothemarriageoftrueminds
admitimpediments.
116
Shakespeare, Sonnet
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CONTENTS
Illustrations pageix
PrefaceandAcknowledgments xi
Introduction 1
1 Ancestors 5
OurAncientHeritage 6
OurUniqueHeritage 9
2 Beginnings 12
TheAustralopithecinesandTheirKin 13
MantheHunter,WomantheGatherer 15
Bones,Butchery,andtheScavengingHypothesis 18
ACloserLookattheFossilRecord 19
HistoryintheBody:EvolutionaryAnatomyandMolecular
Markers 22
Cooking 24
3 Foraging 31
TheUpperPaleolithicRevolution? 31
TheLatePleistoceneWorld 34
NewTools,NewTactics:TheFoodQuestintheLate
Pleistocene 36
4 Farmers 48
TheQuestions 49
TheNaturalHistoryofAgriculture 50
TheHumanFactor:DecisionsandRevisions 56
vii
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Contents
BetterLivingthroughChemistry 65
Agriculture:Adaptation,Strategy,andTradition 69
5 Hunger 71
FoodSupplyinaChangingEnvironment 72
HungerinNature 73
HungerandHumanSocieties 75
FightingHunger:CultureandCreativity 91
6 Abundance 93
AbundanceinNature 94
Surplus,Sharing,andHumanSocieties 98
TheUsesofAbundance 101
Abundance,Diet,andHealth:TheEffectsofSocial
Inequality 110
BeyondStorageandSharing:SurplusasSymbol 112
7 Contacts 115
AcceptanceandDispersalofNovelFoods 116
TheSpreadofAgricultureinPrehistoricEurope 119
Eating,Drinking,andRomanExpansion 123
Peaches,Cowpeas,Melons,andHogs:OldWorldFoodsin
SoutheasternNorthAmerica 126
TheGlobalReachofFoodways 130
8 Extinctions 132
ManversusMammoth 136
InvasionoftheIslandSnatchers 139
Firestarters 143
ChewingtheScenery 144
FinalThoughts 146
NostalgiaforthePleistocene 146
HungeronaCrowdedPlanet 148
TheConservationConundrum 149
Food,Prehistory,andHumanNature 151
Notes 153
ReferencesCited 161
Index 177
viii
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ILLUSTRATIONS
1.1. Taxonomicrelationshipsofhumansandthegreatapes. page10
2.1. Archaeologicalsitesdiscussedinthisbook. 14
3.1. Comparativechartshowingarchaeologicalandgeological
periodsandassociateddevelopmentsinfoodacquisition
andfoodtechnology. 35
3.2. Methodofusingthespearthrower(atlatl). 38
3.3. DepictionofabisonfromthecaveofAltamirainSpain. 39
4.1. Maygrass(Phalariscaroliniana)fromtheNewtKash
rockshelter,Kentucky. 60
4.2. ArchaeologistatworkinsideadryrockshelterinKentucky. 61
4.3. Mapshowingtherelationshipbetweenlengthofthe
growingseasonandtheimportanceofseedcrop
cultivationineasternNorthAmerica. 64
5.1. Theintertropicalconvergencezone(ITCZ). 86
ix
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Description:This book explores the relationship between prehistoric people and their food - what they ate, why they ate it, and how researchers have pieced together the story of past foodways from material traces. Contemporary human food traditions encompass a seemingly infinite variety, but all are essentially
