Live data from Hacker News

Rotten meat may have been a staple of Stone Age diets

sciencenews.org

141–150 of 171 posts

Re: Rotten meat may have been a staple of Stone Age diets

#141

My gut refuses to believe it, but my brain understands that this is probably a lot like cheese -- blue cheese in particular. If you've only had fresh milk, letting it curdle and mold before eating it would probably be unthinkable. Same for fresh cabbage vs. kimchi or sauerkraut.

I had very old chicken tikka once and it was exactly what you think. Funky, soft, and juicy. Not good!

Re: Rotten meat may have been a staple of Stone Age diets

#142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> distances that would overheat other animals what other animals? I used the dog example because it fits perfectly here: they don't sweat yet it's impossible to catch up to them if they are running away. Even if they overheat they don't just drop dead, they slow down to a human's walking pace. And what about running animals that do sweat like horses? makes no sense. What makes more sense is to approach from multiple…

You seem very confident that a human can't catch a dog on a hot day. I hate to be that person, but do you have a source for that? I've gone running with plenty of different dogs in temperatures of above 30 degrees over the years. Smaller or stockier dogs (like a staffy) fade very fast. Within a couple of kms. Working breeds (retrievers/poodles/kelpies/collies) will leave you in their dust but this is why the enduranc…

of course I'm not talking about pugs. I mean dogs, average dogs, as a model for wild animals our hunter gatherer ancestors might have hunted long time ago.

Again I'm not saying it's "literally" impossible. Just not feasible. Actually, chasing an animal worth hunting to exhaustion sounds more like a feat of strength someone would do as a rite of passage. Something you could do once in a lifetime, rather than a reliable source of food.

Re: Rotten meat may have been a staple of Stone Age diets

#144

How do they avoided the bad microbes, that can kill you?

very acidic stomachs I assume

> It is interesting to note that humans, uniquely among the primates so far considered, appear to have stomach pH values more akin to those of carrion feeders than to those of most carnivores and omnivores.

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal...

Re: Rotten meat may have been a staple of Stone Age diets

#145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not to mention diet of the peoples living in tundra that includes such wonderful stuff as e.g. igunaq.

Had to look that up. -- http://www.nmto.ca/sites/default/files/igunaq.pdf -- Igunaq-Aged meat Igunaq is fermented ( aged ) walrus or seal meat that has been cached away for future use. Meat is usually cached beneath stones or pebbles. Aged walrus meat is extremely high in protein, iron and vitamins. Igunaq has been traditional medicine to keep the digestive system clean, as it flushes away anything in its way. It is…

Also Greenland Shark, which “has the longest known lifespan of all vertebrate species (estimated to be between 250 and 500 years)”:

The flesh of the Greenland shark is toxic because of the presence of high concentrations of trimethylamine oxide (TMAO). . . .

Traditionally, this is done by burying the meat in boreal ground for 6–8 weeks, which presses the TMAO out of the meat and also results in partial fermentation. The meat is then dug up and hung up in strips to dry for several more months.[46] It is considered a delicacy in Iceland.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland_shark

Re: Rotten meat may have been a staple of Stone Age diets

#146
post #96

I recall reading, a long time ago, of a person who was eating just meat and only meat for his diet. He was struggling for a while with it, until he intentionally allowed a small amount of meat to rot for a bit, consumed that, and from then on he did much better on that diet. The principle I believe was in play was that the rotting meat contained a lot of bacteria that was very good at breaking down that meat (it woul…

I read that article too, and it transformed how I think about food and gut biome.

Re: Rotten meat may have been a staple of Stone Age diets

#147
post #2

I don't see how that's surprising, at least if you subscribe to the Endurance Running Hypothesis (and I do). Any prey humans used to hunt using what we now know as persistence hunting would have been large game. Especially in the hot, tropic climates early humans seemed to have thrived in, such meat would have started to spoil, even if hunted fresh, before any such hunter would have had the time to bring it back to t…

I really don't think whether the prey is big-game or not matters with respect to "spoiled" meat, however, contra to what some others here are saying, persistence hunting is (or was) a real thing. This paper [1] describes ethnographic examples of persistence hunting; heck, my grandfather described to me running down rabbits as a way of hunting them. However, I would also argue that a more common approach, at least whe…

johnnycomputer knows his anthro. I attest.

Re: Rotten meat may have been a staple of Stone Age diets

#148
post #2

I don't see how that's surprising, at least if you subscribe to the Endurance Running Hypothesis (and I do). Any prey humans used to hunt using what we now know as persistence hunting would have been large game. Especially in the hot, tropic climates early humans seemed to have thrived in, such meat would have started to spoil, even if hunted fresh, before any such hunter would have had the time to bring it back to t…

> It's obvious that at least in our very recent evolutionary history we had far higher tolerance to spoilage.

A few hours after reading this article, I realized that we're learning that exposure to peanut proteins at a certain age prevents peanut allergy.

I wonder if eating rotten meat during formative years similarly confers resistance to the ill effects of such meats. Or more generally, develops our immune response enough to where it's not a problem. (Akin to people in developing nations not having a problem with the tap water)

Re: Rotten meat may have been a staple of Stone Age diets

#149
post #2

I don't see how that's surprising, at least if you subscribe to the Endurance Running Hypothesis (and I do). Any prey humans used to hunt using what we now know as persistence hunting would have been large game. Especially in the hot, tropic climates early humans seemed to have thrived in, such meat would have started to spoil, even if hunted fresh, before any such hunter would have had the time to bring it back to t…

The Australian aboriginals in the Sydney area forbade meat during the hot months due to this reason. http://www.bom.gov.au/iwk/calendars/dharawal.shtml#burran

Re: Rotten meat may have been a staple of Stone Age diets

#150
post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you referring to this guy?: https://www.vice.com/en/article/nnqw3q/this-guy-has-eaten-no...

Oh boy, that guy was definitely a crazy though: https://www.wkyt.com/2021/04/08/lexington-man-arrested-for-v...

I have seen this in many, though. Diet cures a lot of diseases of affluence, but once you start thinking it is a cure-all, you will start seeing enemies everywhere.

I stay far away from the raw vegan community in my town for that reason. I enjoy the food and recipes from time to time, but once COVID struck a not insignifiy chunk of them became intolerable to a boil-head like myself.

It made for diverse groups clumping together under one flag. Far-right, back-to-stone-age climate fighters, raw vegans and general conspiracy theoreticists demonstrating together against public health policy.

A couple of nazi salutes, juice cleanses, coffee enemas and 5g shielding cures covid, who would have thunk.

Post reply on HN