Evolution of the Human Diet: What We Can Learn From Hunters and Gatherers

The study of hunter-gatherer populations around the world can greatly inform our understanding of the evolution of the human diet. Ethnographic research of modern hunter-gatherers has been used to infer the possible food consump­tion and acquisition patterns of our ancestors. Hunter-gatherers provide the in­formation necessary for the understanding of the past human diet, due to these populations living similar lifestyles in similar environments, therefore procuring similar foods. The Hadza, a group of nomadic hunters and gatherers living in Tanzania, East Africa, are one of the primary populations that nutritional anthropologists study to infer what possible foods our ancestors acquired and consumed. My project explores the diet composition of the Hadza, in combination with reviews of pre­vious research, to provide a broader perspective on the possibilities that shaped early hominid dietary patterns.