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Impact of meat and Lower Palaeolithic food processing techniques on chewing in humans

Nature volume 531, pages 500–503 (2016)Cite this article

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Abstract

The origins of the genus Homo are murky, but by H. erectus, bigger brains and bodies had evolved that, along with larger foraging ranges, would have increased the daily energetic requirements of hominins1,2. Yet H. erectus differs from earlier hominins in having relatively smaller teeth, reduced chewing muscles, weaker maximum bite force capabilities, and a relatively smaller gut3,4,5. This paradoxical combination of increased energy demands along with decreased masticatory and digestive capacities is hypothesized to have been made possible by adding meat to the diet6,7,8, by mechanically processing food using stone tools7,9,10, or by cooking11,12. Cooking, however, was apparently uncommon until 500,000 years ago13,14, and the effects of carnivory and Palaeolithic processing techniques on mastication are unknown. Here we report experiments that tested how Lower Palaeolithic processing technologies affect chewing force production and efficacy in humans consuming meat and underground storage organs (USOs). We find that if meat comprised one-third of the diet, the number of chewing cycles per year would have declined by nearly 2 million (a 13% reduction) and total masticatory force required would have declined by 15%. Furthermore, by simply slicing meat and pounding USOs, hominins would have improved their ability to chew meat into smaller particles by 41%, reduced the number of chews per year by another 5%, and decreased masticatory force requirements by an additional 12%. Although cooking has important benefits, it appears that selection for smaller masticatory features in Homo would have been initially made possible by the combination of using stone tools and eating meat.

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Figure 1: Representative samples of chewed meat and USO (beetroot) boli before swallowing.
Figure 2: Modelled effects of meat and food processing on mastication.

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Acknowledgements

We thank R. Carmody, P. Lucas, J. Shea, T. Smith and R. Wrangham for helpful discussions, and E. Castillo and S. Worthington for statistical guidance. This research was funded by the National Science Foundation (#0925688) and by the American School of Prehistoric Research (Peabody Museum, Harvard University).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 11 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, 02138, Massachusetts, USA

    Katherine D. Zink & Daniel E. Lieberman

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  1. Katherine D. Zink
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  2. Daniel E. Lieberman
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Contributions

K.D.Z. and D.E.L. designed the experiments; K.D.Z. collected and analysed the data, with help from D.E.L.; D.E.L. and K.D.Z. co-wrote the paper.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Katherine D. Zink or Daniel E. Lieberman.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Extended data figures and tables

Extended Data Table 1 The number and size of food particles contained within chewed USO (beetroot) and meat boli at ‘swallow’
Full size table
Extended Data Table 2 Average percentage change of chewing muscle recruitment per chew when masticating size-standardized processed USOs and meat, relative to unprocessed samples
Full size table
Extended Data Table 3 Average percentage change of chewing muscle recruitment per sample when masticating size-standardized processed USOs and meat, relative to unprocessed samples
Full size table

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Zink, K., Lieberman, D. Impact of meat and Lower Palaeolithic food processing techniques on chewing in humans. Nature 531, 500–503 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature16990

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