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Neanderthals Ate Their Veggies

Posted by Unknown on from the except-for-brussel-sprouts dept.

sciencehabit (1205606) writes Scientists excavating an archaeological site in southern Spain have finally gotten the real poop on Neanderthals, finding that the Caveman Diet for these quintessential carnivores included substantial helpings of vegetables. Using the oldest published samples of human fecal matter, archaeologists have found the first direct evidence that Neanderthals in Europe cooked and ate plants about 50,000 years ago.

2 of 151 comments (clear)

  1. Re:One Sample by jeffb+(2.718) · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Seems like it shoots down the idea that no Neanderthal ate cooked veggies.

    One counterexample goes a long way toward rejecting a theory.

  2. Re:One Sample by netsavior · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The fact that they had a high rate of conversion (i.e. they digested the plant instead of passing it) it is reasonable to assume that they were ADAPTED to eating veggies, which means it was part of the reason they survived/evolved.

    Finding veggies in stool is no big deal, wild cats poop out grass all the time, it doesn't make them true omnivores.

    They found DIGESTED vegetable matter, that is the true find, and one that easily extrapolates across the entire species.