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>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 ha

by 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 ago
There'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...

by jzxy 2y ago

sriacha 2y ago

There'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...