Friday, August 13th, 2010

Study Suggests Earlier Meat Eating In Hominids

Butchered by early humans or eaten by crocodiles? Image courtesy of David DeGusta

A new study in the journal Nature suggests that the butchering of animals with tools by hominids occurred nearly a million years earlier than anthropologists thought. Study author Zeresenay Alemseged and anthroplogist David DeGusta discuss the finding and explain what it might add to our understanding of human evolution. Más En Español.

Guests

Zeresenay Alemseged
Director and Curator, Anthropology
California Academy of Sciences
San Francisco, California

David DeGusta
Former Professor of Anthropology, Stanford University
Founder, Paleoanthropology Institute
Oakland, California

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Segment produced by:Annette Heist

Image: Two parallel cut marks made by stone tools cutting into tissues on the rib of a cow-sized or larger ungulate.
© Dikika Research Project

Image: Evidence of an ancient carving tool? A study suggests that the cut marks on these ungulate bones means hominids were butchering animals with tools nearly a million years earlier than anthropologists thought.
© Dikika Research Project