Ninety thousand years ago, Neanderthals liked the big ones better:
Proof that Neanderthals ate crabs is another ‘nail in the coffin’ for primitive cave dweller stereotypes
Scientists studying archaeological remains at Gruta da Figueira Brava, Portugal, discovered that Neanderthals were harvesting shellfish to eat – including brown crabs, where they preferred larger specimens and cooked them in fires. Archeologists say this disproves the idea that eating marine foods gave early modern humans’ brains the competitive advantage.
In a cave just south of Lisbon, archeological deposits conceal a Paleolithic dinner menu. As well as stone tools and charcoal, the site of Gruta de Figueira Brava contains rich deposits of shells and bones with much to tell us about the Neanderthals that lived there – especially about their meals. A study published in Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology shows that 90,000 years ago, these Neanderthals were cooking and eating crabs. – Angharad Brewer Gillham, February 7, 2023
But wait. Why are theories like “eating marine foods gave early modern humans’ brains the competitive advantage” over Neanderthals so persistent and prevalent? What if we started from scratch with no need to assemble evidence for an Ascent of Man thesis of “brute to bro”?
Well, that’d never do. We are all expected to be slack-jawed in amazement when what we might have expected – that is, if we didn’t buy into that Darwinian Ascent of Man stuff – turns out to be true. We are paying more for Darwinism than we might sometimes think.
Every form of refuge has its price.
The paper is open access.
You may also wish to read: At Smithsonian Magazine: Neanderthals hunted and butchered massive elephants. Just a minute here. Popular culture did NOT get that idea that Neanderthals were just stupid brutes from thin air. It was carefully inculcated by science popularizers because it tied in with Darwinian Ascent of Man stuff. If it’s not true, let’s be honest about how the correct information affects the current establishment science narrative.