WEBVTT - What Did Our Ancestors Really Eat?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff from how Stuff Works. Hey, brain stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren Vogelbaum Here. You may have heard of folks emulating

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<v Speaker 1>the diets of our ancient pre agricultural human ancestors for

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<v Speaker 1>health and welfare, you know, paleo. But thanks to recent research,

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<v Speaker 1>we now have an actual ancient menu of sorts to

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<v Speaker 1>follow the last meal of Otsi a k a. The Iceman,

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<v Speaker 1>a five thousand, three hundred year old man whose frozen

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<v Speaker 1>body was found by German tourists in the Italian Alps

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<v Speaker 1>back in. An international group of researchers has conducted the

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<v Speaker 1>first in depth study of the contents of Otsi's stomach

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<v Speaker 1>and small and large intestines, as detailed in an article

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<v Speaker 1>published in a July issue of the journal Current Biology.

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<v Speaker 1>They used a combination of multi omics studies involving different

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<v Speaker 1>biomolecules such as ancient DNA proteins, metabolites, and lipids, plus

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<v Speaker 1>microscopic examination to reconstruct the exact composition of Otsi's food intake.

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<v Speaker 1>Just before his apparent violent death from massive bleeding caused

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<v Speaker 1>by an arrow wound in his shoulder, Otzy's stomach still

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<v Speaker 1>contained a small amount of food that he was in

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<v Speaker 1>the process of digesting, including animal muscle, fibers and plant fragments,

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<v Speaker 1>as well as metabolic compounds that indicated the presence of

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<v Speaker 1>dairy products and whole grain cereals. In addition to the

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<v Speaker 1>chemical analysis, the researchers also analyzed DNA they found in

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<v Speaker 1>the food and studied bacteria in Otsey's gas or intestinal tract.

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<v Speaker 1>From that, they determined that Otsey's last meal probably consisted

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<v Speaker 1>of ibex and red deer meat that he ate, either

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<v Speaker 1>fresh or dried, and fat from grazing animals or dairy

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<v Speaker 1>products supplemented with ein corn, a wild species of wheat.

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<v Speaker 1>Otsy's diet was high in fat, with its residues making

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<v Speaker 1>up between twenty seven and forty six of his stomach's contents.

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<v Speaker 1>The researchers think that that wasn't by accident. In the cold,

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<v Speaker 1>high altitude environment in which Otsy lived, it was a

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<v Speaker 1>challenge to avoid starvation and energy loss. The researchers wrote,

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<v Speaker 1>the ice man seemed to have been fully aware that

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<v Speaker 1>fat displays an excellent energy source. Puzzlingly, see stomach also

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<v Speaker 1>contained particles of toxic bracken fern and mosses, which may

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<v Speaker 1>have come from plant material to wrap his meat. Another

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<v Speaker 1>possibility is that Otsi took the toxic fern as a

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<v Speaker 1>medicine for intestinal problems related to parasites found in his gut.

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<v Speaker 1>But we should mention that Otsi's diet may not be

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<v Speaker 1>demonstrative of the diets of his era. Ancient hunter gatherers

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<v Speaker 1>diets varied greatly according to the region where they lived.

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<v Speaker 1>While Otsi eight meat and grains, ancient people in what

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<v Speaker 1>is now Botswana got seventy of their calories from carbohydrates

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<v Speaker 1>and sugars in melons and starchy roots, for example. Ancient

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<v Speaker 1>diets were necessarily local. Today's episode was written by Patrick

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<v Speaker 1>Jake Tiger and produced by Tyler Clang. For more on

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<v Speaker 1>this and lots of other well preserved topics, visit our

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<v Speaker 1>home planet, how stuff works dot com.