Evolution of the human diet : the known, the unknown, and the unknowable edited by Peter S. Ungar

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Ungar, Peter S.

Series:

Human evolution series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Prehistoric peoples--Food.

Prehistoric peoples.

Fossil hominids.

Human remains (Archaeology).

Dental anthropology.

Teeth, Fossil.

Diet--History.

Diet.

Physical Description:

xiv, 413 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2007.

Summary:

"We are interested in the evolution of human diets for several reasons. One is the fundamental concern over our present-day eating habits and the consequences of our societal choices, such as obesity prevalent in some cultures and starvation in others. Another is that humans have learned to feed themselves in extremely varied environments, and these adaptations, which are fundamentally different from those of our closest biological relatives, must have had historical roots of varying depth. The third, and the reason why most paleoanthropologists are interested in this question, is that a species' trophic level and feeding adaptations can have a strong effect on body size, locomotion, "life history strategies," geographic range, habitat choice, and social behavior." "Diet is key to understanding the ecology and evolution of our distant ancestors and their kin, the early hominins. A study of the range of foods eaten by our progenitors underscores just how unhealthy many of our diets are today. This volume brings together authorities from disparate fields to offer new insights into the diets of our ancestors. Paleontologists, archaeologists, primatologists, nutritionists, and other researchers all contribute pieces to the puzzle. New techniques for gleaning information from fossil teeth, bones, and stone tools, new theories stemming from studies of paleoecology, and new models coming from analogy with modern humans and other primates all contribute to our understanding. When these approaches are brought together, they offer an impressive glimpse into the lives of our distant ancestors." "This volume has at its core four main sections: Reconstructed diets based on hominin fossils-tooth size, shape, structure, wear, and chemistry, mandibular biomechanics, Archaeological evidence of subsistence-stone tools and modified bones, Models of early hominin diets based on the diets of living primates-both human and non-human, paleoecology, and energetics, Nutritional analyses and their implications for evolutionary medicine. Book jacket."--BOOK JACKET.

Contents:

I: INTRODUCTION. Early hominin diets : overview and historical perspectives / Alan Walker

Whose diet? : an introduction to the hominin fossil record / Amanda G. Henry and Bernard Wood

II: THE HOMININ FOSSIL RECORD. The evolution of the hominin diet from a dental functional perspective / Peter W. Lucas

Dental functional morphology : the known, the unknown, and the unknowable / Peter S. Ungar

What do we know and not know about diet and enamel structure / Mark F. Teaford

Mandibular biomechanics and the paleontological evidence for the evolution of human diet / David J. Daegling and Frederick E. Grine

What do we know and not know about dental microwear and diet? / Mark F. Teaford

Icarus, isotopes, and australopith diets / Matt Sponheimer, Julia Lee-Thorp, and Darryl de Ruiter

Reconstructing early hominin diets : evaluating tooth chemistry and macronutrient composition / Margaret J. Schoeninger

III: THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL RECORD. Zooarchaeology and the ecology of Oldowan hominin carnivory / Robert J. Blumenschine and Briana L. Pobiner

Meat made us human / Henry T. Bunn

Lithic archaeology, or, What stone tools can (and can't) tell us about early hominin diets / John J. Shea

IV: PALEOECOLOGY AND MODELING. Theoretical and actualistic ecobotanical perspectives on early hominin diets and paleoecology / Charles R. Peters

African Pliocene paleoecology : hominin habitats, resources, and diets / Kaye E. Reed and Amy L. Rector

Modeling the significance of paleoenvironmental context for early hominin diets / Jeanne Sept

The cooking enigma / Richard Wrangham

Seasonality, fallback strategies, and natural selection : a chimpanzee and a cercopithecoid model for interpreting the evolution of hominin diet / Joanna E. Lambert

Energetic models of human nutritional evolution / William R. Leonard, Marcia L. Robertson and J. Josh Snodgrass

V: IMPLICATIONS OF STUDIES OF EARLY HOMININ DIETS. Implications of Plio-Pleistocene hominin diets for modern humans / Loren Cordain

Preagricultural diets and evolutionary health promotion / S. Boyd Eaton

Limits to knowledge on the evolution of hominin diet / Peter S. Ungar.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Notes:

HSP Historic Culinary Arts Collection

ISBN:

0195183460

9780195183467

0195183479

9780195183474

OCLC:

62766025

Publisher Number:

9780195183467

9780195183474

Access Restriction:

Online version licensed for access by U. of T. users.