Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain
Posted on 02/12/2023 10:09:33 PM PST by SunkenCiv
In a cave just south of Lisbon, archaeological deposits conceal a Paleolithic dinner menu. As well as stone tools and charcoal, the site of Gruta de Figueira Brava contains rich deposits of shells and bones with much to tell us about the Neanderthals that lived there—especially about their meals. A study published in Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology shows that 90,000 years ago, these Neanderthals were cooking and eating crabs...
A wide variety of shellfish remains were found in the archaeological remains Nabais and her colleagues studied, but the shellfish in the undisturbed Paleolithic deposits are overwhelmingly represented by brown crabs. Their size was estimated by calculating the size of the carapace relative to the crabs' pincers, which preserve better than other parts of the crab, so are more likely to survive to be found by scientists. The archaeologists assessed the breakage on the shells, looked for butchery or percussion marks, and determined whether the crabs had been exposed to high heat.
Nabais and her colleagues found that the crabs were mostly large adults which would yield about 200g of meat. By studying the patterns of damage on the shells and claws, they ruled out the involvement of other predators: there were no carnivore or rodent marks, and the patterns of breakage didn't reflect predation by birds. Crabs are evasive, but Neanderthals could have harvested brown crabs of this size from low tide pools in the summer.
(Excerpt) Read more at phys.org ...
Crabs! Oh, sorry.
Sadly, melted butter wasn’t invented yet
OTOH, and luckily, frozen food companies weren’t around to distribute monkfish as imitation crab meat.
Probably canned crab, just like the Native Americans that followed the recipes in Pocahantas Warren’s Pow Wow Chow.
I liked the Pow Wow Chow Mein, myself.
Mmmmm, fusion cuisine.
A few weeks ago I needed a few hours of work done on my car, so I thought I would take the bus downtown and get lunch.
Lady the back of bus was talking to her crabs while rubbing her private parts where they lived.
Probably I should thank her for saving me $20
lol!
Let’s hope she wasn’t on her way to a food service job.
She had names for each of them too.
Neanderthals were the first to eat the caveman diet....
Ever see a fat Neanderthal?
The Earth’s forests were much more dense when Neanderthals were around, making it easier to capture prey and hide. They couldn’t compete with Homo sapiens who were much more lithe and mobile in build. Neanderthals also practiced infanticide on a regular basis seeing babies as another burden.
I KNEW IT, My inlaws are a bunch of neanderthals!
LOL, because they ate crabs means they were more civilized or advanced????
I was at a conference years ago in Baltimore, and I went out to dinner to a crab house with a large group of other attendees from around the nation, none of which had ever eaten crabs before.
Having grown up in Maryland and Virginia catching and eating Blue Crabs, I was all in from the moment the crabs were delivered to the table, smashing the crabs with the mallet, breaking them open then rapaciously eating them, while everyone else who had never eaten crabs before (in that fashion) probably looked at me in amazement, horror, and disgust!
I had a giant mountain of dismembered and smashed crab remains piled in front of me, and the detritus from the ravenously devoured crabs was all over my hands, arms, and probably my face too.
I have no doubt they had me classified as a Neanderthal after watching that display!
Our non shellfish eating friends are not amused. /s
Wait... did anyone ever suggest cavepeople WOULDN’T eat some free source of high-quality meat?
It was a really hungry Neanderthal that ate the first crab.
They couldn’t compete with Homo sapiens who were much more lithe and mobile in build. Neanderthals also practiced infanticide on a regular basis seeing babies as another burden.
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Humans, in many cultures, practiced infanticide, and that is well documented, unlike the case for the Neanderthals, unless you interviewed some of them
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