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Re: British Vegetarianism is 8,000 years old?
Becker Mark Steven (beckerms@ucsu.colorado.edu)
12 Oct 1995 03:59:00 GMT
Based on the given information, it seems a bit suprising that this site
is taken as evidence for vegetarianism. Sites like this from this time
period and others are not uncommon. For example, take many of the New
World sites in the Great Basin where Native American groups would
aggregate and collect pinon nuts. This in itself is not evidence for
vegetarianism but seasonality specialization. Considering that Mesolithic
people are generally believed to be residentially mobile (people move to
the food resources as opposed to moving the food resources to the
people), this type of site is to be expected. Also, I would expect little
or no other evidence of other foods such as meat or fish at a specialized
nut collection site. It is very probable that we shall find other
behavior groups from this time period and same region that have
specialized hunting or fishing sites that contain no nuts or other plant
material. In short, this nut collection site is probably part of a
subsistence system rather than the subsistence system. However, I look
foward to hearing more details that suggest otherwise. Mark
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