The First Americans, Part 2

The Clovis-First model says humans reached the Americas by trekking overland, but others propose the earliest travelers arrived by sea, paddling small boats along the coast, from East Asia to southern Beringia and down the western coast of the Americas. Scientists first began thinking about this route in the late 1970s, when they started examining geologic and pollen records to reconstruct ancient environments along Canada's western coast. Instead of the entire northwestern coast laying under thick ice, analyses of coastal bogs showed that a coniferous forest thrived on Washington's Olympic Peninsula 13,000 years ago, and that other green refuges dotted the coast. Early humans camping in these spots would have found plenty of shellfish, salmon, waterfowl and caribou or other land animals grazing in the larger spots.

In fact, it is now known that much of the British Columbian coast was ice free at least 16,000 years ago. Although they haven't found any preserved boats, they were known to humans at least 45,000 years ago when humans island-hopped from Asia to Australia. Still, finding campsites of these exploring mariners are hard to find. This is because as the ice sheets melted, the sea level rose, drowning ancient coastlines under meters of water. However, in March 2011, evidence of early seafarers was found on Santa Rosa Island, just off the southern California coast. Nearly 12,000 years ago, Paleo-American sailors crossed 10 kilometers of open water to Santa Rosa, which would have required a boat. Bird bones and charcoal found at the site were dated to 11,800 years ago.

These travelers had hunted Canada geese and cormorants as well as pinnipeds (seals and sea lions). They also left behind distinctive technology, more than 50 dainty stemmed points that may have been part of darts used for hunting. Their design seemed very unlike the long, furrowed and sturdy-looking Clovis spearpoints. Very similar stemmed points were found scattered around the northern rim of the Pacific Ocean. The earliest came from the Korean peninsula, Japan and the Russian Far East, and were dated to around 15,000 years ago. Stemmed points found in Oregon were dated at 14,000 years old, and 12,000-year-old points were found on the Channel Islands, in Baja California and along coastal South America.

Even so, explorers of this rich coastal world were unlikely to have raced southward. They may have moved just a kilometer or so a year. They were moving into unpopulated lands, and had to maintain connections with people behind them in order to have marriage partners available.

 

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-first-americans/#:~:text=For%20decades%20archaeologists%20thought%20the,thousands%20of%20years%20before%20that.

The First Americans, Part 1

For several decades, archaeologists thought the first Americans were the Clovis people, said to have reached the New World 13,000 years ago from northern Asia by following Mammoths and other large prey across the Beringia Bridge. Supposedly, they journeyed rapidly overland from the Yukon to Alberta, leaving behind their distinctive stone tools across what is now the lower 48 states. But it has now been established that humans reached the Americas thousands of years earlier. The evidence comes not only from archaeological finds, but also from genetics and geology.

For instance, from a Texas creek bank, excavators discovered more than 19,000 artifacts, some no larger than a thumbnail. One such artifact was once part of an all-purpose cutting tool, like an ice age equivalent of a box cutter. Artifacts like these are pushing the history of humans in the New World back beyond the Clovis people, since these tools were dated to 15,500 years ago.

In southern Chile, archaeologists found traces of early Americans who slept in hide-covered tents and ate seafood and wild potatoes 14,600 years ago. That was long before the Clovis people appeared in North America. in Paisley Five Mile Point Caves in Oregon, another team found 14,400-year-old human feces containing seeds of desert parsley and other plants.

Over the past decade, geneticists have been finding new clues where the first Americans came from and when they left home by studying the DNA of indigenous peoples. This information strongly indicates the first Americans' ancestors came from southern Siberia. Although this confirmed the suspected homeland, it also indicated that the New World colonists left their homeland between 25,000 and 25,000 years ago. This would have been a difficult time to migrate, for huge glaciers capped the mountain valleys of Asia, and massive ice sheets mantled most of Canada, New England and several northern states. But that didn't necessarily stop the colonists.

The ice sheets had lowered sea level by more than 100 meters, exposing continental shelves. The newly revealed land of northeastern Asia and Alaska, plus adjacent regions in Siberia, Alaska and northern Canada, formed a landmass joining the Old World to the New known as Beringia.

The air that swept over Beringia were dry and brought little snow to the area, thus preventing the growth of ice sheets. It was an arid tundra grassland inhabited by woolly mammoths, giant ground sloths, steppe bison, musk ox and caribou. Genetic studies suggest that sea lions likely inhabited the rocky islands that studded Beringia's south shore. So human migrants had their pick of hunting terrestrial mammals or seafaring ones.

The major genetic lineages of Natives Americans suggests that the earliest Americans paused somewhere and evolved in isolation for thousands of years before continuing on. Some 19,000 years ago, North America's ice sheets began shrinking, creating 2 passable routes to the south. Several studies of the geographical distribution of genetic diversity in indigenous Americans indicate the earliest colonists arrived between 18,000 and 15,000 years ago, which places them a pre-Clovis.

 

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-first-americans/#:~:text=For%20decades%20archaeologists%20thought%20the,thousands%20of%20years%20before%20that.

Bread Recipes

About 14,400 years ago, someone was baking pita bread in the Black Desert of northeastern Jordan. Researchers made this discovery by sampling the contents of 2 stone fireplaces left at a small campsite by the Natufians, who were hunter gatherers. The charred remains suggest the Natufians gathered wild cereals and tubers to make flour for the bread. Bread was probably not a staple food, but a rare treat. Researchers were surprised to find people making bread at least 4,000 years before the dawn of agriculture.

Meanwhile, at another Natufian site 150 miles away, another team analyzed residues on 3 stone mortors and found evidence of beer being brewed from wild wheat and barley 13,000 years ago.

Beer and Bread! Life was good!

Another source says that to make the first bread, cereal grains were roasted, water added to make a 'grain paste', which was then cooked. This flatbread still has a legacy in many parts of the world. Modern descendants include Mexico's tortillas, Indian chapatti, naan and roti, Armenian lavishes, Iranian sangaks and taboons, Scottish oatcakes and North American johnnycake.

Traces of flour have been found at Upper Paleolithic sites in Europe, which means flour is over 30,000 years old. Cereals were a part of a hunter-gatherer lifestyle, even though the majority of their food was animal protein and fats. Around 10,000 years ago, during the Neolithic period, cereals and breads were eaten more regularly. Wheat and barley were domesticated about this time and spread from Southeast Asia to Europe, North Africa and the Indian subcontinent. Rice, maize, and sorghum may have been used to make bread in other parts of the world.

Eventually, leavened bread was created by taking a chunk of day-old dough and adding water and sugar to use as a 'sourdough starter', of sorts. For a lighter bread, the foam from beer was collected and added to the dough. For places that drank wine rather than beer, a mixture of grape must and flour paste worked in a similar manner.

 

https://abreadaffair.com/bakery-vancouver/history-bread-fun-facts-never-knew/#:~:text=Bread%20has%20a%20rich%20history,items%20are%20still%20made%20today

Archaeology, January-February 2019, pp 26-27, "The First Bakers"

Nutmeg, an Ancient Spice

Nutmeg was used in the Banda Islands (Indonesia) as long ago as 3500 years. Pottery from that date have  traces of nutmeg in them. It's not known if it was used for its fruit, as a spice or for medicinal purposes, but Neolithic Indonesian communities were clearly using it for something.

The Banda Islands consist of eleven small volcanic islands, and are part of the larger Maluku Islands group. These islands were the only source of nutmeg and mace production until the mid-19th century.

Nutmeg is the ground up seed of several tree species of the genus Myristica. Mace is another spice produced by grinding up the seed covering. These trees are also a commercial source of nutmeg essential oil and nutmeg butter. Indonesia is the main producer of nutmeg and mace, as the true nutmeg tree is native there.

If nutmeg is consumed in amounts exceeding the typical use as a spice, it may produce allergic reactions, dermatitis or have psychoactive effects. Although sometimes used in traditional medicine for various disorders, nutmeg is not used in medicines today.

Nutmeg has a distinctive pungent fragrance and a slightly sweet taste. It can be used to flavor baked goods, confections, puddings, potatoes, meats, sausages, sauces, vegetables and beverages such as eggnog.

Nutmeg trees are dioecious plants, which means individual plants are either male or female. The first harvest of nutmeg trees takes place 7-9 years after planting and the trees reach full production after 20 years.

Nutmeg is used as a spice in many cuisines. In Indonesia, it is used in spicy soups, in gravy for meat dishes, and in certain European derived dishes. In India, it is used in many sweet, as well as savoury, dishes. Ground nutmeg is also smoked in India for a different flavor. In Europe, nutmeg and mace are used in potato and spinach dishes, in processed meat products, in soups, sauces, baked goods and rice pudding. The Dutch add nutmeg to such vegetables as Brussels sprouts, cauliflower and string beans, as well as to mulled cider, mulled wine, junket (also known as curds and whey) and eggnog. Nutmeg is a common spice for pumpkin pie. In the Caribbean, nutmeg is sprinkled on top of drinks such as the Bushwacker, Painkiller, and Barbados rum punch.

The nutmeg fruit can also be eaten. It is used to make jam, or is finely sliced, cooked with sugar and crystallised to make a fragrant candy. Sliced nutmeg fruit is made with a sugary syrup liquid or dry coated with sugar to make a dessert. Nutmeg rind can be blended or boiled to make iced nutmeg juice. In India, this is used for juice, pickles and chutney.

Nutmeg essential oil is obtained by steam distillation of ground nutmeg. It is used in perfumes and pharmaceuticals. The oil is colorless or light yellow, and smells and tastes of nutmeg. It is used as flavoring in baked goods, syrups, beverages and sweets. When used to replace ground nutmeg, it doesn't leave particles in the food. The oil is also used in manufacturing toothpaste and cough syrups.

Nutmeg butter is obtained from the nut. It is a reddish-brown semisolid substance with the taste and smell of nutmeg. About 75% of nutmeg butter can be turned into a fatty acid. This can be used as a replacement for cocoa butter, can be mixed with cottonseed or palm oil, and has applications as an industrial lubricant.

In the sixth century AD, nutmeg spread to India, then to Constantinople. By the 13th century, Arab traders knew the origin of nutmeg was the Indonesian islands, but kept the location a secret from European traders.

In August 1511, Afonso de Albuquerque conquered Malacca on behalf of the king of Portugal. At the time, Malacca was the hub of Asian trade. In November of that year, Albuquerque sent an expedition of 3 ships to find the Banda Islands. Those ships arrived in early 1512 and remained for about a month, buying and filling their ships with nutmeg, mace and cloves. Although control of this trade by the Portuguese was not possible, they participated without a foothold in the islands.

In 1621, the Dutch East India Company waged battle with the Bandanese to obtain a monopoly on nutmeg. It is estimated the Bandanese went from a population of approximately 15,000 people to 1,000 people.

The British invaded and temporarily took control of the Banda Islands during the Napoleonic Wars. They busily transplanted nutmeg trees, complete with soil, to Sri Lanka and Singapore and other places. From those, they also transplanted trees, most notably to Zanzibar and Grenada. The Dutch eventually regained control of the Banda Islands, and kept it until World War II.

In 2019, 142,000 tonnes of nutmeg were produced. Indonesia, Guatemala and India produced approximately equal amounts, producing 85% of the global total.

Nutmeg intoxication may occur with side effects such as delirium, anxiety, confusion, headaches, nausea, dizziness, dry mouth, eye irritation, and amnesia. It takes several hours to reach maximum effect and may last for several days. Nutmeg overdose rarely causes death, but can if combined with other drugs.

The scent of nutmeg may attract pets, but it can be poisonous to them.

I'm not a huge fan of pumpkin pie, but I love a sprinkling of nutmeg in my eggnog. What about you? Do you have a favorite dish that uses nutmeg?

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nutmeg

Archeology, January/February 2019, page 25

Aurochs, the Mega-Cow

The Aurochs were around during the last ice age, although I seldom think of them as an ice age megafauna. 'Auroch' is German for "original ox" and is pronounced OR-ock.

Auroch is the megafauna ancestor of all domesticated cattle. During its prime, a male auroch stood about six feet high at the shoulder and weighed a ton, although other websites said they could have weighed 3,000 lbs. The species lived from 2,000,000 to 500 years ago, inhabiting the plains of Eurasia and northern Africa. There is no indication that they ever made it to the Americas. The last auroch, a female, was killed in Poland in 1627.

Cave paintings of Auroch from Lascaux in France have been dated to about 17,000 years ago. Humans hunted them for food, and they also domesticated it, a past-time that eventually led to modern cows.

There were actually 3 separate subspecies of auroch. Bos primigenius primigenius is the best known subspecies, and is the one depicted in the Lascaux cave paintings. It was native to Eurasia. Bos primigenius namadicus, or the Indian Aurock, was domesticated a few thousand years ago into the Zebu cattle. The North African Auroch (Bos primigenius africanus) is the most obscure of the subspecies, and is likely native to the Middle East.

In the 1920s, a pair of German zoo directors attempted to resurrect the Auroch by selective breeding of modern cows. The result was a herd of oversized oxen known as Heck cattle. Hopes for the resurrection of the Auroch persist, although by using more advanced science than the Heck brothers used.

 

https://www.thoughtco.com/auroch-1093172