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Which is the norm for invasive species. I imagine humans specifically concentrated on megafauna because, why not go after the single big easy-to-find animal tha
by Salgat 2y ago
Which is the norm for invasive species. I imagine humans specifically concentrated on megafauna because, why not go after the single big easy-to-find animal that will feed your family for weeks?
- kjkjadksj 2y agoTo be fair it probably took some time to figure out methods to make mammoth steak last for weeks without refrigeration
- ChrisMarshallNY 2y agoI was reading an article, some time ago, about Amazon Indians that actually like rotten meat. Apparently, it is quite nutritious, doesn't hurt them (maybe acquired immunity?), and is probably fairly easy to digest (it's halfway there, already). Scavenging spoiled meat is a fairly classic natural trait, and even apex predators won't pass up an easy snack.
- FrustratedMonky 2y agoHumans do it today with steaks. 'aged' steaks are basically rotting. They are tender.
- permo-w 2y agorotting and aging are very different things. rotting is simply being consumed by fungus/bacteria, aging is a more complex process that involves controlling the liquid levels in the meat in order to make it last longer (wet aging) or taste better (dry aging)
- FrustratedMonky 2y agoI'd say not 'very different', just scale. 'Controlled' rotting. There are fungus and bacteria in the aging process, just the temperature and humidity is controlled. But, not sure of exact technical definition of 'rotting' is, or 'aging'. So we'd be debating different definitions. I'd say generally both have fungus and bacteria, and 'aging' is under controlled conditions, and 'rotting' is just out in out door environment which is different temperature and humidity.
- Detrytus 2y agoControlled temperature and humidity makes all the difference when it comes to the speed at which bacteria can multiply. Aged meat has many orders of magnitude less bacteria than rotten one.
- jzxy 2y ago>Scavenging spoiled meat is a fairly classic natural trait, and even apex predators won't pass up an easy snack. It has to be said that humans in particular have stomach acidity on the levels of scavenger type meat eaters. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0134116 https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjourn... There's been a decent amount of research on the relation between stomach pH and diet, with animal species that have pronounced scavenger tendencies being on the lowest end of the spectrum, which puts an interesting light on the sort of diet the earliest humans may have had.
- sriacha 2y agoThere's an interesting bit about the Mandan tribe I've read about how dead floating bison were considered a delicacy [1] >McKenzie observed something else as well. Once hauled from the water, the carcasses “were left for some time to Season into a flavor then carried home and at feasts are reckoned a great delicacy.” McKenzie found these ripened “float bison” revolting. But they were a delicacy – documented by many observers – for Missouri River peoples. The more rotten the flesh, the more appealing it was. “When the skin is raised you will see the flesh of a greenish hue, and ready to become alive at the least exposure to the sun,” McKenzie said, the meat, “so ripe, so tender, that very little boiling is required – the stench is absolutely intolerable.” The Indians preferred float bison “to any other kind of food.” It boiled up into a “bottle green” soup that the Mandans “reckoned delicious.” Indeed, McKenzie said, “so fond are the Mandanes of putrid meat that they bury animals whole in the winter for consumption of the Spring.” I would love to know what kind of microbiome people have that can eat putrid meat. Or perhaps we all have that ability :) [1] https://centerofthewest.org/2017/08/01/mandan-strong-spirits-stronger-stomachs/ https://centerofthewest.org/2017/08/01/mandan-strong-spirits...
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- ceejayoz 2y agoProbably approaches like jerky and pemmican.
- conductr 2y agoThey perhaps had easier access to glacial melt, aka refrigeration? There’s an exhibit in the La Brea museum that shows hunters submerging mammoth meat in shallow waters as a form of preservation
- onlypassingthru 2y agoOnce humans figured out how to cook meat over a fire, it probably didn't take too long to figure out how to preserve meat using smoke and less heat.
- panick21_ 2y agoButchering and elephant and cutting down enough wood without steel or iron seem pretty hard. But I guess if you have enough people you can do it.