Great to see discussion generated by this. One common complaint: “yeah but living hunter gatherers aren’t good models of the past”. Often followed by some version of “Surely in the good old days we ate more meat”. Very flawed argument. Here’s why 1/
1. First, totally correct that *no* HG population is a perfect model for *all*. Tons of diversity across the HG world just as today.
2. Also true that no pop today is a time machine, stuck in amber as a model of the Paleolithic
BUT
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2. Also true that no pop today is a time machine, stuck in amber as a model of the Paleolithic
BUT
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3. There is no empirical evidence from the 2 million years of fossil & archeological evidence of our genus Homo that we were ever “carnivores” or “facultative carnivores”. Teeth and tools have wear and microfossils of plants, even cereals. We’ve always eaten a mixed diet
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4. When we look st HGs today, there is an enormous range of diets. Most eat >50% of calories from plants.
5. The only meat dominated diets are seen in the arctic. Arctic lifestyles are just as recent as farming.
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5. The only meat dominated diets are seen in the arctic. Arctic lifestyles are just as recent as farming.
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6. Ironically, the arguments that humans used to be carnivores seem to stem largely from Cordain et als analyses which used data from: living hunter gatherers! So if you think living HGs aren’t good models, then those aren’t either
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7. Cordains analyses *are* problematic (though thorough and no doubt well intentioned) because their source (Murdock 1965) gives a very rough sense of diet. Items like honey aren’t included at all. Diet has to be reconstructed thru vague assessments of diet.
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8. More detailed analyses of HGs with better data on diet indicate 50% or more from plants. Again it’s variable. It’s always variable.
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9. Bottom line is that there’s no good evidence for a full on carnivore phase of human evolution. The analyses that have been given in support of this idea are flawed, and (irony) often for the same reasons people reject modern HG studies.
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10. If a carnivore diet works for you, GREAT. Keep doing whatever makes you healthy. Not trying to change your diet. But don’t rewrite human evolution or HG ecology to justify your diet. Thanks!
