CAVEMEN cooked fish suppers 780,000 years ago — half a million years earlier than thought.
Fish teeth unearthed by archaeologists show the “tasty and nutritious” type of carp were carefully heated, but not burned, ahead of eating.
2
2
And they could even have been served with a salad as remains of fruit, nuts, and seeds were found at the site too — along with meat from mammals.
The findings come from Israel’s Gesher Benot Ya’aqov dig site, on the banks of the River Jordan.
Dr Irit Zohar, from Tel Aviv University, said: “They illustrate prehistoric humans’ ability to control fire in order to cook food, and their understanding of the benefits of cooking fish before eating it.”
Dig chief Prof Naama Goren-Inbar, from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, added: “It marks a significant evolutionary advance. It is even possible that cooking also included various types of animals and plants.”
The team told journal Nature Ecology and Evolution that crystals inside the fossilised teeth showed they had been exposed to heat of 500C — less than half the temperature of naked flames.
Dr Jens Najorka, of the London Natural History Museum, said: “We do not know exactly how the fish were cooked but it is clear that they were not just thrown into a fire.”
