The popular image of early humans feasting on animals may be off the mark. New research has found that early hominins mostly ate plants.
A study, published this week in the Science journal, said human ancestors like Australopithecus, who lived 3.5 million years ago in southern Africa, ate little or no meat.
The research team analysed tooth enamel from Australopithecus individuals found in the Sterkfontein cave near Johannesburg.
This area is often referred to as the “cradle of humankind” through its rich collection of early hominin fossils.
The study concluded that that Australopithecus hominins did not regularly hunt large mammals like the Neanderthals did a few million years later.
Study lead author Tina Lüdecke said tooth enamel was the hardest tissue of the mammalian body and could preserve the isotopic fingerprint of a diet for millions of years.
The team analysed the nitrogen isotopes in the fossilised tooth enamel of seven Australopithecus individuals and found virtually no evidence of meat consumption.
Report co-author, Professor Dominic Stratford, who is Director of Research at the Sterkfontein Caves, said the new work represented a huge step in understanding the diets of all animals and early humans over millions of years.
“The research provides clear evidence that its (Australopithecus) diet did not contain significant amounts of meat,” he said.
“We are honoured that the pioneering application of this new method was spearheaded at Sterkfontein, a site that continues to make fundamental contributions to science even 89 years after the first hominin fossils were discovered there by Robert Broom.”
The study report said the consumption of animal resources, especially meat, was considered a crucial turning point in human evolution.
“This protein-rich food has been linked to the increase in brain volume and the ability to develop tools,” the report said.
“However, direct evidence of when meat emerged among our early ancestors, and of how its consumption developed though time, has been elusive.”
The full report is on the University of the Witwatersrand website.
