Abstract
Animal tissues are rich in energy thanks to their abundance of saturated fatty acids. Meat also contains proteins, essential amino acids, vitamin B3, easily-assimilable iron and omega 3 and 6 fatty acids. Against a backdrop of increasing aridity in Africa over the last three million years, the shift of some hominins towards an increasingly carnivorous diet has often been seen as an alternative to the adaptation to tough plant foods developed by the Paranthrope lineage. This evolution can be tracked by studying tooth wear surfaces and analyzing certain stable isotopes. Carbon and nitrogen isotopes are those most frequently studied to reconstruct the evolution of diets over the last 100 000 years. However, for ancient periods and in warm environments, organic molecules are difficult to preserve, and it is the carbon/zinc pair that has recently offered the best solution for reconstructing fossil food webs. Traces of cutting on mammal bones have been recognized since before three million years ago, but until around two million years ago, a plant-based diet still dominated, supplemented by a little meat and probably insects and larvae. From this date onwards, archaeological sites showing the consumption of mammals become much more numerous. This exploitation also includes the freshwater aquatic environment. Among the models proposed, some attribute to early hominins a more or less aggressive scavenging behaviour towards other carnivores. In several cases, however, initial access to carcasses by hominins preceding that of carnivores can be demonstrated. Initially, it was marrow at least as much as meat that seemed to be sought after. In Kanjera (Kenya), two million years ago, selective transport of carcasses or parts of carcasses according to weight was observed. The pursuit of game over long distances during the hot hours of the day was undoubtedly one of the most common hunting techniques used by Homo genus representatives adapted to endurance running.
