AIM: DO PEOPLES MEANS OF OBTAINING FOOD …



Paleolithic Diets Worth a Closer Look, Expert Says

AUBURN, June 1---Some nutritionists believe we would all be a lot healthier if we ate more like our Paleolithic ancestors.

In one respect, they’re right. Prehistoric diets, after all, were almost entirely free of unhealthy fat, salt and sugar – factors associated with the rising levels of obesity, heart disease and diabetes commonplace in our own century. In fact, that is why many nutritionists believe these ancient diets deserve a closer look, if only to establish a benchmark for healthier eating today. One major difference between the Paleolithic and modern American diet involves the amount of meat consumed by our distant ancestors. While standard recommendations today emphasize the need to eat between 10 and 15 percent of overall calories from protein, researchers believe some Paleolithic humans derived up to 60 percent of their calories from meat.

But there is one important difference between now and then. Whereas many of the protein sources we consume tend to be unhealthy fats, most of the protein consumed by our ancient forebears tended to be healthy fats.

In temperate and tropical regions where fruits and vegetables were readily available, Paleolithic humans also consumed impressive amounts of fiber. Since animals such as cows had not yet been domesticated, early humans derived almost all their calcium from plant foods – a fact that, by 21st century standards, reflected an incredible amount of plant consumption.

Today, humanity depends on only about 100 crops for 90 percent of the food supply. Our Paleolithic ancestors, by contrast, consumed a much wider variety of plant nutrients derived from a plant supply that was equally as diverse.

(Source: Dr. Robert Keith

HANDOUT 6: PALEOLITHIC AGE TO THE NEOLITHIC AGE

1. How the stone age fits in our timeline: [pic]

a) Paleolithic Age: The Paleolithic Period or Old Stone Age stretched from approximately 2.8 million years ago to 8,000 B.C.E. This Paleolithic (from the Greek words old and stone) Era featured simple tools, which the earliest humans chipped from various animal skin, hair, and bone. Paleolithic peoples were hunters and gatherers, dependent upon resources and conditions provided by their environment. The basic economic decisions of what to use, and produce, and for whom to produce were functions of the plants, animals, and natural features available in the environmental setting.

b) Neolithic Age: The Neolithic Period developed through a series of ice ages that had created adversity for hunter-gatherer bands, the nomadic agricultural people, around 8.000 B.C.E., some groups seem to have become sedentary (stay in one place), that is, they ceased wandering in search of sustenance. Domestication of both plants and animals created this possibility. People had learned to plant and cultivate seeds and harvest the food products of this activity. In a similar manner, they devised ways of taming and controlling animals sheep, goats, cattle, and pigs for food, skins, wool and other products, and for use as beasts of burden.

Describe the time period that you chose:

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How did these people survive?

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You and your partner are archeologists. Your job is to learn as much about the Neolithic and Paleolithic civilizations as possible. Study the readings below and write down as many observations as you can in your class notes. BE SPECIFIC! (to do this you need to create a T-Chart in your notebook one side Neolithic Age observations, the other Paleolithic Age observations)

2. AGRICULTURE:

a) With the onset of the Neolithic Period, the glaciers receded and global temperatures warmed. Consequently, the amount of edible vegetation increased. At the same time, a warmer climate meant that people required less meat, which has relatively high concentrations of fat. A diet rich in meat helps the human body survive in low temperatures, but once the climate was no longer so cold, people could eat more plants and berries. It was a short step from gathering to cultivating and harvesting. In fact, the beginning of agriculture is one of the defining features of the Neolithic period.

b) Population pressure, population growth over the beginning of the Neolithic period, had eventually reached a point at which local groups were finding it difficult to obtain sufficient food from hunting and gathering, which requires people to live in groups of about 25 individuals. As a result, people began to nurture their won food crops and control livestock, thus allowing a higher population of density in any given area.

3. ART

a) Paleolithic Period: The artwork of the late Paleolithic Period appears in two basic forms: as paintings or carvings on an immovable surface, such as a cave, wall and as a portable sculpture or similar object. One of the most spectacular drawings was found in the caves at Lascaux, in France. The cave has approximately 25 painted animals on its ceiling. Some were life-sized, or even larger. Colored in rich browns, reds, yellows and black, they sometimes conformed to the shape of the rock itself; the artist had purposely positioned them to take advantage of the ceiling, creating a realistic three dimensional effect.

b) Neolithic Period: Scientists will never be completely certain about the meanings behind cave art. Similarly, they do not understand why this artwork changed so drastically over time. During the Neolithic, or New Stone Age the realistic and often light-hearted representation of hunters and animals disappear. The art becomes more abstract. Spirals and geometric designs appear on stones and rock surfaces, like a doodle. Many are inscribed on single stones standing or lying in fields, usually near the sea. Others are carved on stone temples and burial structures.

4. IMAGES

Source: Population Reference Bureau Estimates

|Year |Population | | |

|50,000 B.C.E. |??? |Paleolithic Era | |

|8,000 B.C.E |5,000,000 |Neolithic Ends-----------------Civilizations Begin |

|1 C.E. |300,000,000 | | |

|1200 C.E. |450,000,000 | | |

|1650 C.E. |500,000,000 | | |

|1750 C.E. |795,000,000 | | |

|1850 C.E. |1,265,000,000 | | |

|2002 C.E. |6,215,000,000 | | |

|Number who have ever been born |106,456,367,669 |

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Neolithic Age 8,000

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Ancient Egypt 3,500 B.C.E

Year 1

Civil War 1850

W.W.II

1940

Paleolithic Age 2.5 Million Years Ago

Present Day

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