The Origins And Impact Of Modern Human Diets

Arizona State University, Scottsdale AZ

Investigators

Abstract

This research focuses on the origins and development of coastal foraging and the impact that these foods may have had on human cognitive and behavioral evolution during the time of the origins of the modern human lineage. The project is inherently interdisciplinary, combining research in archaeological, paleobotanical, paleoecological, geochronological, and geological sciences. It is of scientific importance because coastal foods, like shellfish, are an important source of daily nutrients for people today that promotes and maintains prenatal health and juvenile and adult cognitive development and maintenance. The Cape coast of South Africa is also one of the hypothesized origin locations of the modern human lineage and researchers have hypothesized if the influx of nutrient-rich foods into early modern human diets there was linked to their burgeoning cognitive evolution or if the consumption of these foods influenced their cognitive development directly? This project is the first to specifically explore the long-term effects of eating sea foods by studying archaeological sites and paleoenvironments in Pondoland (Eastern Cape Province), South Africa, a unique area where the coastline is hypothesized to have remained the same throughout the last 400,000 years. The researchers will use state-of-the-art methods to excavate archaeological sites in coastal zones and analyze their stratigraphy, marine and terrestrial animal remains, plant remains, and geochronological dating. These interdisciplinary records will be used to test long-standing questions about when, where, and how coastal foraging developed within the local paleoenvironmental context to better understand the broader impact that coastal foods had on modern human origins The research has numerous broader impacts. It will provide a long-term evolutionary perspective on the consumption of foods with high concentrations of brain-specific nutrients. These foods, which include shellfish, may be linked to human cognitive and behavioral evolution, but they are also promoted today to ensure the health and wellbeing of contemporary people. In this way, the research will also contribute towards current debates within dietary theory about proper nutrition and lean-protein foods rich in Omega-3 fatty acids. The research will also contribute towards a broader understanding of paleoenvironments across the South African Cape coast and the human response to climatic change during glacial and interglacial periods. Besides coastal resources, Pondoland's indigenous vegetation is also ancient, highly productive, and tightly packed into a narrow coastal zone. Each vegetation type hosts diverse plant and animal species that would have contributed to the daily survival of early modern humans and this research will contribute towards a wider understanding of the ecological and environmental history of tropical areas. This project also brings together a diverse team of researchers from South Africa, Germany, Spain, Australia and the United States. It draws upon each individuals wider network of professional collaborations, linking numerous other nationalities and research specializations to promote a robust multidisciplinary and international research collaboration between US researchers and students and numerous other international research centers.