I have postulated that in the Northern Hemisphere (North America, Siberia,
Northern Europe) as the ice sheet was retreating there were considerable
wetlands that supported Sagittaria latifolia- an emergent wetland plant
spread by waterfowl and known as a pioneering plant because it was one of
the first to colonize these areas.  It grows as a monoculture, and can take
over a wetland. On the lower Columbia River, and in the Mississippi delta
there are places where there is no other plant except S.latifolia for
hundreds of acres. This is the model I suggest existed ca. 10,000 b.p. in
the shallow lakes, ponds, streamsides, wetlands that were present draining
the water from the icesheet.

The plants would also support grazing megafauna because wetlands (even in
cold climates) are highly productive re calories/biomass per sq meter.  The
tuber tastes like a potato, cooks as fast or faster than a potato and does
not need to be processed with stone tools, nor is it associated with fire
cracked rock, it can be baked in hot ashes i.e. it is hard to find in the
archaeological record. It was available/harvestable from early fall to
mid-spring when plant foods are generally considered to be scarce, and was
very cost effective to harvest.  It dries well, and can be stored for long
periods of time. It has been recovered in paleo sites in Poland, and in
caves in the Great Basin.  Pollen studies support my hypothesis.  My thesis
is available upon request.
Melissa Darby
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Date: 14 July, 2000 1:00 PM
Subject: PALEODIET Digest - 15 Jun 2000 to 14 Jul 2000 (#2000-16)


>There is one message totalling 58 lines in this issue.
>
>Topics of the day:
>
>  1. fat and carbs
>
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>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>Date:    Wed, 12 Jul 2000 01:00:22 -0400
>From:    Sean Mcbride <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: fat and carbs
>
>Thanks Loren for your detailed reply to my question regarding
carbohydrates.
>I apologise for the delay in replying.
>Your response clarified a question for me. As I stated in my last post,
>Gould (1966),  observed that a 97-lb (44kg) kangaroo yielded only 4 ounces
>(114g)of removable fat. Assuming for the sake of argument that the useable
>carcass is around 65% of the total weight (Cordain et al.
2000:685)(although
>I suspect a kangaroo would produce a higher useable weight than an
>ungulate). So, we're looking at about 29kg of meat with 114g of fat.  It
>would be unlikely for one individual to consume an entire Kangaroo, so let
>us say it is shared between 10 people, providing around 3kg of meat and 11g
>of fat per person (assuming it was divided equally which it probably
>would
>not be).
>
>If (as the Angmagssalik eskimos seem to prefer [Speth 1989:334])a
reasonable
>mix of fat to protein is half -half (although Steffansson guggests one
pound
>of fat to 6-7 lbs of lean meat for pemmican), then the example above is way
>out of kilter in terms of too much protein and not enough fat.  This diet
>would need to be supplemented by carbohydrates in the form of fruit or
>starch.  Since in my experience of Australian bush fruits many of them are
>not particularly high in sugars (although Jenny would know better than I
>about this)this would tend to indicate a need for starchy carbs.
>
>Relating this back to palaeodiet - even hunting megafauna with an increase
>in fat due to their increased size early peoples would still have had to
>have used carbohydrate sources to offset the high protein levels. Since a
>number of authors suggest that carbohydrate was scarce in these
environments
>the q
>uestion becomes "What then did they eat" was it carbohydrates or were
>they adapted to gluconeogenesis.
>
>I hope this makes sense and would appreciate any comments
>
>Cheers
>
>Sean McBride
>
>Cordain, L., J. Brand-Miller, S. B. Eaton, N. Mann, S.H.A. Holt and J.D.
>Speth
>2000 Plant-animal subsistence ratios and macronutrient energy estimations
>in worldwide hunter-gatherer diets. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
>71:682-692.
>
>Gould, R.A.
>1966 Notes on hunting, butchering and sharing among the Ngatatjara and
>their neighbours in the Western Australian desert. Kroeber Anthropological
>Society Papers 36:41-63.
>
>Speth, J.D.
>1989 Early hominid hunting and scavenging: The role of meat as an energy
>source. Journal of Human Evolution 18:329-343.
>
>------------------------------
>
>End of PALEODIET Digest - 15 Jun 2000 to 14 Jul 2000 (#2000-16)
>***************************************************************
>