Knowledge Tree
cooking
Facts (45)
Sources
The role of Plant Foods in the evolution and Dispersal of early Humans kernsverlag.com Jul 30, 2022 15 facts
perspectiveInchley et al. (2016) argue that the AMY1 copy number expansion occurred in a selective environment where increased starch consumption favored improvements in starch-digestion efficiency, facilitated by Middle Pleistocene plant processing practices like cooking, grinding, and leaching.
claimStarch grains recovered from modern human dental calculus in Israel dating to 130,000–100,000 years ago show diagnostic processing damage, indicating the cooking and eating of starchy plant foods.
claimCooking makes foods easier to digest by converting resistant starches to soluble forms, kills foodborne pathogens, and necessitates the assembly of foods in a shared location, which heightens competition and facilitates new social relationships.
claimCooking may not have been a key driver of earlier hominin evolution, including the physiological and behavioral changes observed in early Homo erectus.
claimModern humans in South Africa were cooking underground storage organs (USOs) by 170,000 years ago.
claimThere is little evidence to suggest that Homo floresiensis and Homo luzonensis routinely cooked or used complex technologies to process plant foods, though this may be an artifact of poor preservation.
referenceWrangham (2007) authored 'The Cooking Enigma', a chapter in 'Evolution of the Human Diet: The Known, the Unknown and the Unknowable', which explores the role of cooking in human evolution.
claimStarch grains recovered from Neanderthal dental calculus in Israel dating to 50,000–46,000 years ago show diagnostic processing damage, indicating the cooking and eating of starchy plant foods.
claimPlant foods and processing technologies, such as cooking, grinding, and leaching, were essential to the dietary flexibility and adaptive capacity of early modern humans and their ancestors in Africa, Eurasia, Wallacea, and Sahul.
claimPlant food remains are preserved in the archaeological record primarily as charred macrofossils resulting from cooking, burning fuel, or disposing of rubbish in hearths; as robust fossil remains like phytoliths and mineralized seeds; or in special environments such as water-logged sites or within dental calculus.
referenceWrangham et al. (1999) published 'The Raw and the Stolen. Cooking and the Ecology of Human Origins' in Current Anthropology, which examines the relationship between cooking and the origins of human ecology.
claimFood processing, particularly cooking, is implicated in the evolution of increased hominin brain size.
claimEarly human populations in Sahul utilized various plant food processing techniques, including cooking, pounding, and grinding.
claimCooking and other plant-processing practices are hypothesized to have caused copy number expansion in the AMY1 gene, which is responsible for the production of salivary amylase.
claimThe absence of micromorphological evidence for hearths at the Liang Bua site on Flores suggests that cooking may not have been part of the behavioral toolkit of H. floresiensis.
Nutritional Evolution – Human Origin and Evolution ebooks.inflibnet.ac.in 6 facts
claimCooking, via roasting or boiling, enhances the nutritional benefit of vegetable foods by disintegrating cellulose, which is otherwise indigestible to humans.
referenceThe academic paper titled 'The raw and the stolen—cooking and the ecology of human origins' was published in the journal Current Anthropology, volume 40, pages 567–594, and discusses the role of cooking in human evolutionary ecology.
claimCooking food may have been part of hominin culture as early as 1.9 million years ago, as evidenced by tooth size reduction in Homo erectus which suggests a shift to processing softer foods.
claimWhether the improvement in hominin dietary quality was achieved through the use of cooking or through advancements in stone tool technology remains a debatable issue.
claimThe evolutionary history of hominins is characterized by significant dietary changes, including the introduction of meat eating, cooking, and changes associated with plant and animal domestication.
claimHumans differ from apes in their nutritional patterns by consuming a higher proportion of animal food, placing a major emphasis on starchy plant food, and utilizing cooking and preparation tactics to reduce fibrous bulk and increase palatability.
The Evolution of Diet - National Geographic nationalgeographic.com 4 facts
quote“Cooking produces soft, energy-rich foods,” says Richard Wrangham.
procedureLoren Cordain's Paleo diet prescription recommends consuming lean meat and fish while avoiding dairy products, beans, and cereal grains, as these foods were introduced after the invention of cooking and agriculture.
claimHuman ancestors began cooking food sometime between 1.8 million and 400,000 years ago, which likely resulted in higher survival rates for their offspring.
claimHarvard primatologist Richard Wrangham argues that the most significant revolution in the human diet occurred when humans learned to cook, rather than when they began eating meat.
Ethnobotanical study of wild edible plants in Goba District Southwest ... nature.com Jul 29, 2025 2 facts
claimApproximately 10% of wild plants are processed through cooking or roasting to increase palatability, digestibility, and nutrient bioavailability in the Goba District.
claimWild edible plants that require processing, such as cooking or roasting, are typically harvested and transported to the home for preparation before consumption.
To Follow the Real Early Human Diet, Eat Everything scientificamerican.com Jun 25, 2024 2 facts
claimHumans can survive on animal tissue because cutting and cooking meat make it easier to consume.
perspectiveRichard Wrangham of Harvard University has proposed that cooking food, which makes it easier to chew and digest, may have provided Homo species with the extra fuel required to power a larger brain.
The Evolutionary Impact of Dietary Shifts on Physical and Cognitive ... ouci.dntb.gov.ua 2 facts
claimHominin evolution has paralleled major dietary and technological shifts, including the introduction of lithic devices, the mastery of fire, cooking, fermentation, and the domestication of plants and animals.
referenceCarmody's research in Nat. Microbiol. (Vol 4, p. 2052) examines how cooking shapes the structure and function of the gut microbiome.
Ethnobotanical study of food plants used in traditional medicine in ... link.springer.com Nov 26, 2025 1 fact
measurementIn the Quitexe municipality, preparation methods for food plants include chewing (12.37%), grinding (8.25%), cooking (4.12%), and sucking (1.03%), with other methods collectively accounting for 14%.
the evolutionary impact of dietary shifts on physical and cognitive ... pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov Jul 25, 2024 1 fact
claimThe evolution of human dietary habits mirrors the evolution of humans themselves, with key developments such as stone tool technology, the shift to a meat-based diet, control of fire, advancements in cooking and fermentation techniques, and the domestication of plants and animals significantly influencing human anatomical, physiological, social, cognitive, and behavioral changes.
Changes in Diet Allegedly Drove Human Evolution answersingenesis.org Jan 12, 2013 1 fact
claimEvolutionists believe that primitive hominid ancestors, such as Homo erectus, developed greater intellect and larger brains as they adapted to survival without trees, which included learning to make tools and cook food.
Future of Food Series Part IV: The Evolution of Diet harmonyvalleyfarm.blogspot.com Sep 11, 2014 1 fact
claimThe evolution of cooking allows humans to extract more fuel from food with less digestive effort because the cooking process breaks down energy before consumption.
How do we know what they ate? - The Australian Museum australian.museum Oct 21, 2020 1 fact
procedureTo determine if human remains show evidence of cannibalism, researchers use a procedure involving the following steps: (1) examine bones under a microscope to distinguish between animal teeth marks and tool-made cut marks; (2) assess the state of the bone when cut (fresh bone may indicate consumption or ritual defleshing, while old bone may indicate secondary burial); (3) check for the presence or absence of nutritionally valuable bones to see if they were selected for consumption; (4) determine if human and animal bones in the same assemblage were treated similarly; (5) examine bones for breakages that suggest marrow extraction; (6) determine if the bones show signs of burning or cooking.
The Evolutionary Impact of Dietary Shifts on Physical and Cognitive ... onfoods.it 1 fact
claimKey historical developments including stone tool technology, the shift to a meat-based diet, the control of fire, advancements in cooking and fermentation techniques, and the domestication of plants and animals have significantly influenced human anatomical, physiological, social, cognitive, and behavioral changes.
The Evolution of Human Nutrition carta.anthropogeny.org Dec 7, 2012 1 fact
claimCooking increases the energy provided by starch and meat, and saves eating time, which facilitates dedicated hunting.
Reviewing the Prehistoric Menu | American Scientist americanscientist.org 1 fact
claimNeanderthals were capable hunters who butchered and ate large animals, but they also consumed plants and cooked their food.
Indigenous Foods - National Indian Council on Aging nicoa.org 1 fact
procedureThe National Indian Council on Aging recommends cooking food by sautéing, baking, broiling, roasting, boiling, and steaming, while avoiding fried foods.
Ethnobotanical study of wild edible plants in the mountainous ... link.springer.com Oct 4, 2024 1 fact
measurementIn the studied area, 48 species of edible plants (39.7% of the total) are cooked, including Suaeda acuminata and Allium grande Lipsky; cooking methods include roasting in oil or boiling in water, as seen with Eremurus sp., Ferula foetida (Bunge) Regel, and Anchusa azurea Mill.
Evolutionary Adaptations to Dietary Changes - PMC - NIH pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov 1 fact
claimHuman evolution has involved several major dietary shifts, specifically the adoption of meat eating, the practice of cooking, and the domestication of plants and animals.
Psychedelics, Sociality, and Human Evolution frontiersin.org 1 fact
referenceWrangham, R. (2009) authored the book 'Catching Fire: How Cooking Made us Human', published by Basic Books.
“The Old Foods Are the New Foods!”: Erosion and Revitalization of ... frontiersin.org 1 fact
accountTraditionally, Indigenous Peoples of Northwestern North America relied on seasonal availability of foods and developed methods for processing—such as cooking and dehydrating—to store foods for winter months when fewer resources were available.
(PDF) Evolutionary Perspectives on Human Diet and Nutrition academia.edu 1 fact
claimCooking played an adaptive role in human evolution by improving the digestibility and palatability of key carbohydrates.