For some time now, the consensus among researchers was that our ancestors first began to hunt and eat meat as a significant source of calories about two million years ago. This was about the time that the Homo erectus came onto the scene, and many people speculate that it was this transition to consuming meat that allowed their brains to grow, giving them the evolutionary edge against other species.

Many people even say that it was this transition to a more carnivorous diet that made humans human.

Much of this comes from the fact that most research pointed toward an area in Tanzania where large numbers of animal bones with cut marks on them have been found. Up until more recently, this was the earliest place where they were found in such concentrations, so it was assumed that this is where the first of our ancestors really hunted for most of their calories.

A paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences found that there was evidence of humans hunting and consuming meat much longer ago and in many other locations. The lead author of hte study, Dr Andrew Barr of George Washington University, commented on this, saying:

“Generations of paleoanthropologists have gone to famously well-preserved sites in places like Olduvai Gorge looking for — and finding — breathtaking direct evidence of early humans eating meat, furthering this viewpoint that there was an explosion of meat eating after 2 million years ago.”

Some examples of this include an area in Ethiopia where bones of antelopes and horses were found to be butchered using ancient tools. These bones dated back to about 2.5 million years ago.

The earliest evidence showing that the ancestors of humans ate meat comes from Kenya where there were found processed carcasses of hippopotamuses. This came from between 2.6 and 3 million years ago.

The idea that our ancestors began our hunting with a hippo seems incorrect, which points to the fact that they were almost certainly hunting significantly longer than that.

The fact seems to be that our ancestors ate meat as long back as they existed. Anthropologist John Hawkins says:

“I would be very surprised if there were any hominin species that didn’t sometimes eat animal prey.”

This seems to be in line with a common sentiment that modern supporters of eating meat say. In nature, animals are only as vegetarian as they have to be. This is based on the idea that animals that are generally seen to be vegetarian will still eat meat as often as they are able. Cows will intentionally eat mice, insects, and other animals as often as they can catch them. The same can be said of apes and virtually any other animal.

There simply is not a source of nutrients that is more complete than can be found in meat, which is why it is consumed whenever available by animals in nature. science, top, single topic,

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