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Posted on 06/14/2025 7:35:22 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Long before the days of electricity and fridge freezers, meat was preserved by smoke. A new study suggests the practice could stretch back almost 2 million years, and may even be a primary reason our ancestors started making fires in the first place.
While the generation of flames is inextricably linked with the rise of humans, in the earliest days it would've required significant time and effort to ignite and keep fires lit. The benefits of preserving meat may have been a key reason why that time and effort was worth it.
The study is the work of two researchers from Tel Aviv University in Israel, and follows their previous studies linking human evolution to the hunting of large animals and the shrinking size of those animals over time.
Burnt bones Some of the burnt bones analyzed in the study. (Tel Aviv University) Nine different historical sites across South Africa, Kenya, Israel, Ethiopia, and Spain were analyzed for the study. The researchers looked at the sizes of the animal remains found at the locations and their estimated age, with some of the bones thought to be almost 2 million years old.
"The process of gathering fuel, igniting a fire, and maintaining it over time required significant effort, and they needed a compelling, energy-efficient motive to do so," says paleoanthropologist Miki Ben-Dor.
"We have proposed a new hypothesis regarding that motive."
The researchers note that wherever fire was found at these sites, so were large animal remains – not just plants and small prey. What's more, they calculated the energy gains from cooking and eating this big game meat straight away, compared with preserving it.
Combining these factors provides strong evidence that these fires weren't lit just for warmth or to cook the large animals straight away, the researchers argue. The energy needed to keep a fire going would have outweighed the energy from a meal or two of cooked meat.
Researcher Ran Barkai with part of an elephant bone Researcher Ran Barkai with part of an elephant bone. (Tel Aviv University) Not only could the flames have smoked and dried more of the meat so it could last longer, they would also keep away other scavengers eager to feast on the food the early humans had caught – such as a hippo or a rhino.
"For early humans, fire use was not a given, and at most archaeological sites dated earlier than 400,000 years ago, there is no evidence of the use of fire," says Ben-Dor. "Nevertheless, at several early sites, there are clear signs that fire was used, but without burnt bones or evidence of meat roasting."
"We understand that early humans at that time – mostly Homo erectus – did not use fire regularly, but only occasionally, in specific places and for special purposes."
An ancient elephant, for example, could keep a couple dozen people fed for up to 3 months, the researchers calculated. Those millions of calories are worth preserving, a return on the investment of going out to hunt.
"In this study, we propose a new understanding of the factors that motivated early humans to begin using fire," says archaeologist Ran Barkai.
"It is likely that once the fire was produced for these purposes, it was also occasionally used for cooking – at zero marginal energetic cost."
The research has been published in Frontiers in Nutrition.
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Thank you very much and God bless you.
Don’t jerk me around.
Me too. Total nonsense. Do the math. Where are the bodies?
2 million years? Taking “low and slow” to an extreme!
With a bong?
So I guess the vegetarians smoked grass for millions of years as well!
Probably the first Green Egg?
Humans Have produced fire For Almost 2 Million Years, I Suggest.
That’s way too long to smoke meat....
In picked the wrong day to stop smoking meat.
Thanka you Tom and Mary! Anda now, the musical stylings of Ernie on the accordion-ah, accompanying the Geico Caveman and his Neanderthal boysa!
🎼
So, I chaffed them, and I gaily laughed 🎶
To think they could doubt my love
Yet, today, my love has flown away
🎵I am without my love (without my love)
Now, laughing friends deride tears I cannot hide
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh, so I smile and say
“When a lovely flame dies
Smoke gets in your eyes” (smoke gets in your eyes)
Smoke gets in your eyes
“Where are the bodies?”
LOL!
"We have proposed a new hypothesis regarding that motive."
So researchers can divine a motive from 2 million years ago, but modern police are unable to find a motive for many crimes today.
Grandma’s recipe is only 1 million years old. Nothing much has changed.
Thanks. Got a couple of Jimmie Dean logs thawed and ready to go. Don’t think I wait that long. Too dry.
That’s quite the trick since humans (homo sapiens) have only existed 300,000 years.
So on this fine Father’s Day my big question is... What is the history of BBQ sauce? Maybe a 2 million year old sample could be discovered to find out if ancient dad’s had the best recipes. The more you know...
I couldn’t help seeing Lauren Bacall saying, “all you do is put your lips together and blow”....
🤔Did they smoke it filtered or filterless?
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