Starch-rich plant foods 780,000 y ago: Evidence from Acheulian percussive stone tools

Hadar Ahituv; Amanda G. Henry; Yoel Melamed; Naama Goren-Inbar; Corrie Bakels; Lyudmila Shumilovskikh; Dan Cabanes; Jeffery R. Stone; Walter F. Rowe; Nira Alperson-Afil

doi:10.1073/pnas.2418661121

Starch-rich plant foods 780,000 y ago: Evidence from Acheulian percussive stone tools

Hadar Ahituv, Amanda G. Henry, Yoel Melamed, Naama Goren-Inbar, Corrie Bakels, Lyudmila Shumilovskikh, Dan Cabanes, Jeffery R. Stone, Walter F. Rowe, Nira Alperson-Afil

Bar-Ilan University, University of Haifa, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

In contrast to animal foods, wild plants often require long, multistep processing techniques that involve significant cognitive skills and advanced toolkits to perform. These costs are thought to have hindered how hominins used these foods and delayed their adoption into our diets. Through the analysis of starch grains preserved on basalt anvils and percussors, we demonstrate that a wide variety of plants were processed by Middle Pleistocene hominins at the site of Gesher Benot Ya’aqov in Israel, at least 780,000 y ago. These results further indicate the advanced cognitive abilities of our early ancestors, including their ability to collect plants from varying distances and from a wide range of habitats and to mechanically process them using percussive tools.

Original language	English
Article number	e2418661121
Journal	Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Volume	122
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2418661121
State	Published - 21 Jan 2025

Keywords

Archaeobotany
Middle Pleistocene
hominins diet
plant foods
starch

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

General

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10.1073/pnas.2418661121

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Ahituv, H., Henry, A. G., Melamed, Y., Goren-Inbar, N., Bakels, C., Shumilovskikh, L., Cabanes, D., Stone, J. R., Rowe, W. F., & Alperson-Afil, N. (2025). Starch-rich plant foods 780,000 y ago: Evidence from Acheulian percussive stone tools. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 122(3), Article e2418661121. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2418661121

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title = "Starch-rich plant foods 780,000 y ago: Evidence from Acheulian percussive stone tools",

abstract = "In contrast to animal foods, wild plants often require long, multistep processing techniques that involve significant cognitive skills and advanced toolkits to perform. These costs are thought to have hindered how hominins used these foods and delayed their adoption into our diets. Through the analysis of starch grains preserved on basalt anvils and percussors, we demonstrate that a wide variety of plants were processed by Middle Pleistocene hominins at the site of Gesher Benot Ya{\textquoteright}aqov in Israel, at least 780,000 y ago. These results further indicate the advanced cognitive abilities of our early ancestors, including their ability to collect plants from varying distances and from a wide range of habitats and to mechanically process them using percussive tools.",

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author = "Hadar Ahituv and Henry, {Amanda G.} and Yoel Melamed and Naama Goren-Inbar and Corrie Bakels and Lyudmila Shumilovskikh and Dan Cabanes and Stone, {Jeffery R.} and Rowe, {Walter F.} and Nira Alperson-Afil",

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Ahituv, H, Henry, AG, Melamed, Y, Goren-Inbar, N, Bakels, C, Shumilovskikh, L, Cabanes, D, Stone, JR, Rowe, WF & Alperson-Afil, N 2025, 'Starch-rich plant foods 780,000 y ago: Evidence from Acheulian percussive stone tools', Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 122, no. 3, e2418661121. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2418661121

TY - JOUR

T1 - Starch-rich plant foods 780,000 y ago

T2 - Evidence from Acheulian percussive stone tools

AU - Ahituv, Hadar

AU - Henry, Amanda G.

AU - Melamed, Yoel

AU - Goren-Inbar, Naama

AU - Bakels, Corrie

AU - Shumilovskikh, Lyudmila

AU - Cabanes, Dan

AU - Stone, Jeffery R.

AU - Rowe, Walter F.

AU - Alperson-Afil, Nira

PY - 2025/1/21

Y1 - 2025/1/21

N2 - In contrast to animal foods, wild plants often require long, multistep processing techniques that involve significant cognitive skills and advanced toolkits to perform. These costs are thought to have hindered how hominins used these foods and delayed their adoption into our diets. Through the analysis of starch grains preserved on basalt anvils and percussors, we demonstrate that a wide variety of plants were processed by Middle Pleistocene hominins at the site of Gesher Benot Ya’aqov in Israel, at least 780,000 y ago. These results further indicate the advanced cognitive abilities of our early ancestors, including their ability to collect plants from varying distances and from a wide range of habitats and to mechanically process them using percussive tools.

AB - In contrast to animal foods, wild plants often require long, multistep processing techniques that involve significant cognitive skills and advanced toolkits to perform. These costs are thought to have hindered how hominins used these foods and delayed their adoption into our diets. Through the analysis of starch grains preserved on basalt anvils and percussors, we demonstrate that a wide variety of plants were processed by Middle Pleistocene hominins at the site of Gesher Benot Ya’aqov in Israel, at least 780,000 y ago. These results further indicate the advanced cognitive abilities of our early ancestors, including their ability to collect plants from varying distances and from a wide range of habitats and to mechanically process them using percussive tools.

KW - Archaeobotany

KW - Middle Pleistocene

KW - hominins diet

KW - plant foods

KW - starch

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DO - 10.1073/pnas.2418661121

M3 - مقالة

C2 - 39761385

SN - 0027-8424

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JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

IS - 3

M1 - e2418661121

ER -

Starch-rich plant foods 780,000 y ago: Evidence from Acheulian percussive stone tools

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