Island paradise for Heidelberg Man: ecological opportunistic, flexible and omnivore humans will always be attracted to the waterfront. The Heidelberg Man floodplain diet: a science based paleolithic diet - and healthy too. A study, published December 10, 2013, by the open access online academic publisher PLOS ONE says: Heidelberg Man, living in Western-Europe from at least 500000 - 200,000 years ago and could be the ancestor of both Neanderthal and Homo sapiens, consistently choose islands in flood plains of major rivers as habitats; this they did so primary because of nutritional and security considerations, The study, after surveying major British and north-west French archaeological sites dating from 500,000 to 200,000 years ago, revealed that Homo heidelbergensis avoided forests and hills and predominantly chose to live on islands in the upper and middle reaches of river systems, and their estuaries. The degree to which they preferred to choose just one specific type of location has surprised the archaeologists, but helps to explain why Homo heidelbergensis was so successful for so long. The flood plain allowed them to develop a virtually perfect ‘Palaeolithic diet’ in which protein consumption was balanced by carbohydrate and fat intake. This was because, more than any other ecological zone, river flood plains produced unusually rich grass which attracted larger numbers of big herbivores (especially wild horses). It also attracted substantial numbers of other animals – including deer, rhino and beavers, as well as large flocks of water birds, the study says. [and shellfish, fish, shrimps, crabs, mollusks, frogs and amphibians, eggs of birds and reptiles] What’s more, the flood plain generated vast numbers of water plants with nutritional edible roots. Weed and bull rush roots were rich in carbohydrates – and leafy vegetables and water cress, particularly common on flood plains, would have helped provide folic acid, crucial for healthy child-bearing. Flood plains also provided raw material for making tools and making fires. Horse, beaver, rhinoceros, deer and eel bones as well as beaver-felled timber and evidence of fire-use have been found on Homo heidelbergensis occupation sites. Looking at the nutritional resources available, the scientists think that the floodplain habitat allowed Heidelberg Man to achieve a very well balanced diet – and extremely good levels of health. They would not have suffered from much heart disease, cancer or most viral diseases. Heidelberg Man was named after the location near the town of Heidelberg in Germany where the first fossils were found in 1907. This early man appeared first in Africa - may by be as early as 1.5 million years ago - before trekking to Europe about 600,000 years ago. The cranial volume of Homo heidelbergensis could overlap those of Homo sapiens reaching 1,400 cm3. At the Atapuerca site in Spain bones of Heidelberg Man suggest an averaged height of 1.70. However paleoanthropologist Lee Berger has found bones of H. heidelbergensis at sites near coastal South African, indicating that African Heidelberg Man could reach an astonishing 2.13m. independent.co.uk/news/science/archaeology/revealed-how-prehistoric-des-res-gave-stone-age-brits-a-perfect-diet-8995918.html
Posted on: Wed, 24 Sep 2014 15:59:14 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015