Starch remains overturn certain convictions about the Paleolithic

2010/12/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Dietetika/Elikagaiak
• Paleontologia
• Arkeologia

Microscopic starch specimens have been found in some instruments from 30,000 years ago in some deposits in Italy, Czech Republic and Russia. The discovery was made by a team of Italian researchers and was revealed by the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Research has eliminated some of the beliefs that until then existed about the Paleolithic. For example, the belief that the people of the Paleolithic were mainly carnivorous. In fact, they were hunter-gatherers and, in addition to meat, organs and marrow of hunted animals, they also consumed collected foods: plants (about 300 species), roots, fruits, eggs... However, until the creation of agriculture, the proportion of foods of vegetable origin in the diet was considered to be low.

The utensils that have been found now serve to grind plants and starch grains show that they made flour. With it, soups or stems would be made. According to the calculations made by the researchers, these foods had an energy similar to that of current cereals, so they were an important part of the diet.

In addition, the possibility of making flour means the time necessary for other activities other than to hunt and collect food, since the flour lasts a long time. Also, according to Anna Revedin, a member of the research team, research has shown that women had a heavy role in those human groups that were responsible for processing plants.