By analyzing fossilized dental plaque, scientists have found new evidence that early Europeans ate seaweed and other aquatic plants.
Today, dental hygienists diligently scrape plaque and tartar off our teeth during regular cleanings. But before modern dentisty, this debris simply built up on early humansâ teeth and gums.
Fortunately for archaeologists, some of that plaque has survived for thousands of years.
In a study published this week in the journal Nature Communications, researchers analyzed samples of preserved dental plaque from the remains of 74 early humans unearthed at 28 European archaeological sites. Some of the teeth were around 2,000 years old, while others were more than 8,000 years old, reports CNNâs Katie Hunt.
They found the chemical biomarkers of seaweed and aquatic plants in 26 samples, which suggests that early humans were eatingâor, at the very least, chewingâthese bounties from the sea. More specifically, they detected red, green and brown seaweed, as well as pondweed and a relative of the water lily.
The results indicate humans were eating aquatic plants as early as the Mesolithic period, through the Neolithic period and into the early Middle Ages. That timespan is significant, as archaeologists had long assumed that the introduction of farming during the Neolithic era meant that early humans largely abandoned such foods from the sea, according to a statement from the researchers.
Additionally, aquatic plants werenât only a coastal menu specialty. The researchers also found evidence in teeth from a site in southeast Spain located nearly 50 miles from the water.
How early humans prepared these aquatic plants is unclearâdid they eat them raw or cook them? Scientists also donât know how much of their diets consisted of aquatic plants, as the biomarkers of other types of plants âtend to survive less well in archaeological contexts compared to algae,â study co-author Stephen Buckley, an archaeologist at Englandâs University of York, tells CNN.
âWe donât necessarily get a full picture of all foods consumed, which can depend on prevailing environmental conditions,â he adds.
The team thinks early humans may have understood the nutritional benefits of seaweed and aquatic plantsâjust as we do now. These days, seaweed has been called a âsuperfood,â thanks to its abundance, rapid growth and vitamin and mineral content.
âSeaweed is great,â says study co-author Karen Hardy, an archaeologist at the University of Glasgow, to New Scientistâs Chen Ly. âItâs available, itâs nutritious, itâs local, itâs renewable.â
Itâs also environmentally friendly and may help halt human-caused climate change by âabsorbing carbon emissions, regenerating marine ecosystems, creating biofuel and renewable plastics as well as generating marine protein,â as Timeâs MĂ©lissa Godin wrote in 2020.
The researchers hope their findings will encourage more people to start adding seaweed and aquatic plants to their diets.
âIt would be a wonderful thing to think that people actually connected in and thought, âWell, if we ate it before, we can start eating it again,ââ Hardy tells the Guardianâs Nicola Davis.
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Sarah Kuta
Sarah Kuta is a writer and editor based in Longmont, Colorado. She covers history, science, travel, food and beverage, sustainability, economics and other topics.
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