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Doha – In a groundbreaking study that challenges long-held beliefs about the dietary habits of pre-agricultural societies, an international team of scientists has uncovered compelling evidence that ancient hunter-gatherers in Morocco consumed a significant amount of plants alongside meat.
The findings, published by researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Géoscience et Environnement Toulouse, and the Institut National des Sciences de l’Archéologie et du Patrimoine, shed new light on the complex dietary practices of human groups living 15,000 years ago.
The study focused on the Iberomaurusian culture, whose remains were discovered in the cave of Taforalt, Morocco.
Using a comprehensive multi-isotopic approach, including innovative techniques such as zinc and strontium isotope analysis in dental enamel, the researchers were able to reconstruct the diet of these ancient individuals with unprecedented accuracy.
Contrary to the prevailing notion that meat played a dominant role in the diet of hunter-gatherers before the advent of agriculture, the study’s findings clearly demonstrate that the Iberomaurusian people had a strong preference for plants.
The isotopic evidence suggests that a significant proportion of their diet consisted of Mediterranean plant species, such as acorns, pine nuts, and wild pulses, which were also found among the archaeobotanical remains at the site.
Read also: 90,000-Year-Old Human Footprints Unearthed on Morocco’s Northwestern Coast
Zineb Moubtahij, the lead author of the study, emphasized the significance of these findings, stating: “Our findings not only provide insights into the dietary practices of pre-agricultural human groups but also highlight the complexity of human subsistence strategies in different regions. Understanding these patterns is crucial to unraveling the broader story of human evolution.”
The study also revealed that plant foods were introduced into the diets of infants, possibly serving as weaning products. This discovery suggests that pre-agricultural communities may have adopted earlier weaning practices compared to what was previously thought for hunter-gatherer societies.
The use of zinc isotopes preserved in enamel to determine the diet of ancient populations in Africa is a pioneering approach in the field. As North Africa plays a crucial role in the study of human evolution and modern human dispersal, this new tool will enable researchers to further explore human dietary patterns and adaptability in different environments across the region.
The findings raise intriguing questions about the lack of agricultural development in North Africa at the beginning of the Holocene, despite the apparent reliance on plant foods by pre-agricultural societies.
As the research team continues to investigate additional Paleolithic sites in the region, they hope to gain a deeper understanding of ancient dietary practices and their implications for human evolution.
