VANCOUVER, Canada – Analysis of isotope levels in the teeth of more than 100 people who lived between 9,500 and 200 years ago in Kenya and Tanzania shows that people continued fishing, hunting wild animals and gathering plants for food more than 1,000 years after they began keeping livestock. University of British Columbia. Kendra Critz of the University of British Columbia reports that about 5,000 years ago, the diversity of diets eaten by early herders was still similar to that of hunter-gatherers. Elisabeth Hildebrand of Stony Brook University explained, “It is clear that fisher-foragers followed dietary strategies that were situationally specific, or even individual.” He adds, “And the first herders maintained this individual approach even as they began to build communal cemeteries, which included large social networks linking hundreds of people.” Scientists believe that early herders may have continued to search for food as the area around Lake Turkana was drying up. “If rainfall is unpredictable and forage is scarce, having multiple food options can be the difference between being full and going hungry,” Critz said. The researchers concluded that later herders may have begun to rely more on their animals for food, as reflected in isotope levels in their teeth, as the environment became more stable. To read about a monumental cemetery built by herders near Lake Turkana about 5,000 years ago, visit “nomadic graveyard“
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