Scientists find oldest evidence of regular meat consumption by early humans (Anemia)

[Viva_La_Revolution]

A fragment of a child's skull discovered at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania shows the oldest known evidence of anemia caused by a nutritional deficiency, reports a new paper published Oct. 3 in the open access journal PLOS ONE.

A skull fragment unearthed by anthropologists in Tanzania shows that our ancient ancestors were eating meat at least 1.5 million years ago, shedding new light into the evolution of human physiology and brain development.

"Meat eating has always been considered one of the things that made us human, with the protein contributing to the growth of our brains," said Charles Musiba, Ph.D., associate professor of anthropology at the University of Colorado Denver, who helped make the discovery. "Our work shows that 1.5 million years ago we were not opportunistic meat eaters, we were actively hunting and eating meat."

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The fragment belonged to a 2-year-old child and showed signs of porotic hyperostosis associated with anemia. According to the study, the condition was likely caused by a diet suddenly lacking in meat.

http://phys.org/news/2012-10-scientists-oldest-evidence-regular-meat.html

[alfredo]

1. Meat should be eaten as a special occasion, not an every day requirement.

That's how we handle it here. We also look at it as a flavoring agent.

[xchrom]

2. Du rec. Nt