Cooked starchy rhizomes in Africa 170 thousand years ago
Top Cited Papers
- 3 January 2020
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Science
- Vol. 367 (6473), 87-91
- https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaz5926
Abstract
Plant carbohydrates were undoubtedly consumed in antiquity, yet starchy geophytes were seldom preserved archaeologically. We report evidence for geophyte exploitation by early humans from at least 170,000 years ago. Charred rhizomes from Border Cave, South Africa, were identified to the genus Hypoxis L. by comparing the morphology and anatomy of ancient and modern rhizomes. Hypoxis angustifolia Lam., the likely taxon, proliferates in relatively well-watered areas of sub-Saharan Africa and in Yemen, Arabia. In those areas and possibly farther north during moist periods, Hypoxis rhizomes would have provided reliable and familiar carbohydrate sources for mobile groups.Keywords
Funding Information
- National Geographic Society (OP2015/04LB)
This publication has 40 references indexed in Scilit:
- Isotopic evidence for an early shift to C4resources by Pliocene hominins in ChadProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2012
- Early evidence of San material culture represented by organic artifacts from Border Cave, South AfricaProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2012
- The meristematic activity of the endodermis and the pericycle and its role in the primary thickening of stems in monocotyledonous plantsPlant Ecology & Diversity, 2012
- Morphoanatomy of the stem in CyperaceaeActa Botanica Brasilica, 2009
- Cellular Ultrastructure and Crystal Development in Amorphophallus (Araceae)Annals of Botany, 2008
- Africa's wild C4 plant foods and possible early hominid dietsJournal of Human Evolution, 2005
- The unusual vascular structure of the corm of Eriophorum vaginatum: implications for efficient retranslocation of nutrientsJournal of Experimental Botany, 2004
- Cell-Mediated Crystallization of Calcium Oxalate in PlantsPlant Cell, 1999
- Anatomy and systematics of IridaceaeBotanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 1994
- Taxonomic and Evolutionary Implications of Rhizome Structure and Secondary Thickening in IridaceaeBotanical Gazette, 1984