where's the Beef (the bison or the mammoth)?

Contributor: B&B Charcoal

Posted: November 21, 2019

Ok, so there is strong heterotrophic evidence linking the taming of fire and the continuous roasting of meat over fire that lead to the development of the large brains and the body type of modern man. The necessary proteins and nutrients released in the slow roasting of meat and the organizational and problem-solving skills involved hunting and preparation of the meal are linked to the very foundations of our species. We also know that our far distant relatives the homo habilis existed about 2.8 million years ago. When they started to go extinct our next of kin, the homo erectus started appearing, about 1.8 million years ago. They eventually developed into the current homo sapiens (modern man) about 315,000 years ago. Recently scientists used statistical analysis to determine that changes would have to have occurred in the teeth of our predecessors the homo erectus and homo neanderthalensis about 2.6 million years ago. Researchers found softer molars in the remains of our ancestors which proved they were cooking foods that were easier to chew and digest. Now all that is needed to complete this theory is solid evidence of a cooking fire that can be dated back to 2.6 million years ago. Kenneth Miller reports that archaeologists have found a site in South Africa that can finally prove our ancient relatives were using a charcoal fire 2.6 million years ago to cook and prepare food. The Wonderwick Cave is a 460-foot long cave and is the oldest continuously occupied a human dwelling on earth. They found carbonized plant and twig fragments along with burned bits of animal bones. The fire pit was located deep inside the cave, and using Fourier Transform infrared microspectroscopy (FTIR) they determined the materiel had been heated at 750 to 1300 degrees. That is just the right temperature for a small cooking fire. The fire pit was located 100 feet into the cave, eliminating the possibility of the ashes being blown in from the front opening of the cave. In addition, the carbonized material turned up repeatedly throughout the million-year-old sediment. This indicates that fires had burned frequently at the site. This further proves the influence of fire and cooking on the evolution of our species and our relatively capacious brains.(8) It can’t be stated any simpler, eating meat cooked over a fire made us modern humans. And although this is of the utmost importance to our species development, it’s still not barbecue, as it is originally defined.