Bison skulls excavated from an archaeological site near Roswell, New Mexico. Pictured are objects 83209 a and b.Image courtesy: University of Michigan Museum of Anthropological Archaeology
Posted on 05/02/2023 2:28:45 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Early human foragers may have relied on eating the partially digested vegetable matter, called digesta, found in the stomachs and digestive tracts of bison and other large game herbivores...
Folding digesta into these models will allow researchers to better address major questions in evolutionary anthropology. It even calls into question the idea that “hunting and gathering,” which all prehistoric people relied on until about 10,000 years ago, was divided by sex, according to author Raven Garvey, associate professor of anthropology and affiliate of the Research Center for Group Dynamics at the U-M Institute for Social Research.
Early foragers may, in some contexts, have consumed their required portion of “vegetables” in the form of digesta, according to Garvey. Eating not only the herbivores’ meat and organs but also digesta would net a person a significantly higher number of calories, and also would expand the kinds of macronutrients such as protein, fat and carbohydrates available to the forager...
Garvey’s study, published in the journal Evolutionary Anthropology, explores the significance of digesta in two of these questions: sex-divided subsistence labor and archaeologically observed increases in plant use and sedentism, or the transition to more permanent settlements.
Using estimates of available protein and carbohydrates in the native tissues and digesta, respectively, of a large ruminant herbivore (Bison bison), Garvey shows that, with digesta included, a group of 25 adult foragers could meet the USDA’s average recommendations for proteins and carbs for three days without additional supplementation.
Such a resource could have been crucial in certain contexts, like in areas where plants were scarce or indigestible to humans. It could also have eliminated the need to hunt and gather separately since total nutrition could be obtained from a single resource.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.umich.edu ...
Bison skulls excavated from an archaeological site near Roswell, New Mexico. Pictured are objects 83209 a and b.Image courtesy: University of Michigan Museum of Anthropological Archaeology
Kinda quaint they’re still discussing gender.
An Unlikely Source of Prehistoric Food Identified
Thursday, April 27, 2023
https://www.archaeology.org/news/11401-230427-hunter-gatherer-bison-digesta
The prehistoric hunters got the idea because the bison they saw had those "Don't like my driving?" bumperstickers on their hindquarters.
I had read that feral kitties get important nutrition from partially digested vegetables in mouse’s belly.
I think they are just trying to make eating bugs sound more attractive.
I’ve killed several deer and the foxes and coyotes have gotten to it before I did. The stomach has always been torn open.
I will share all of my digesta with anybody who is willing to provide me some kaopectate.
Sounds like a real second-mile kind of offer. ;^)
That does sound like the origin of haggis. I’m betting it is.
🤢🤦♂️......................................
Where did they get this whacky idea? Reader’s Digesta?................
"The stomach has always been torn open."
From the inside or outside?..................
"Not when you eliminate the third, fifth, and sixth letters, then it's 'Red's Digesta', comrade!"
Bon Appetit magazine.
I’ve heard of Twice Baked Potatoes, but Twice Eaten Bovine Fodder?............................
[prehistoric talk at dinner] “You go ahead and finish my leftovers, I’m going over here to work on domesticating corn and taters.”
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