Food, Prey, and Diet
Animals were a primary food source for early humans of the Gravettian period. In addition to animal carcasses and remains, carbon and nitrogen dating confirm the animal contribution to the diets. Since Europe was extremely cold during this time period, food sources needed to be high in energy and fat content. Testing comparisons among various human remains reveal that populations at higher latitudes placed greater dietary emphasis on meat.
A defining trait that distinguished the Gravettian people was their ease of mobility compared to their Neanderthal counterparts. Modern humans developed the technology and social organization that enabled them to migrate with their food source whereas Neanderthals were not adept at travelling, even with relatively sedentary herds.
With their ability to move with the herds, Gravettian diets incorporated a huge variety of animal prey. The main factor for which animal was hunted at a particular time was based on age and size. For example, first year deer offered the best hides, while fourth year deer offered the most flesh for consumption. Mammoths were a prime food source for the people of Central Europe. It is believed that human exploitation, in this manner, has led to their extinction. Gravettian diets also consisted of hyenas, wolves and reindeer. Herds and packs that lived within close proximity to them often served as part of the food source. More common meat sources were hares and foxes, captured communally with nets. This time period is classified by the strong emphasis on meat consumption because agriculture had not been fully introduced nor utilized. In addition, the climate was not favorable to stable crop cultivation.
Coastal Gravettians incorporated another food source: marine protein. From several sources of remains found in Italy and Wales, carbon dating reveals that 20-30% of Gravettian diets of coastal peoples consisted of sea animals. Populations of lower latitudes relied more on shell fish and fish while higher latitudes’ diets consisted of seals.
Read more about this topic: Use Of Animals During The Gravettian Period
Famous quotes containing the word diet:
“Television programming for children need not be saccharine or insipid in order to give to violence its proper balance in the scheme of things.... But as an endless diet for the sake of excitement and sensation in stories whose plots are vehicles for killing and torture and little more, it is not healthy for young children. Unfamiliar as yet with the full story of human response, they are being misled when they are offered perversion before they have fully learned what is sound.”
—Dorothy H. Cohen (20th century)