Discover menu of Africans used more than 5,000 years before migration

Seafood was the staple food of migrants from Africa to Saudi Arabia about 5,000 years ago.

By far, it was believed that prehistoric humans usually eat much meat regime from mammoths, tigers, and many other creatures . But recent evidence by experts gathered shows seafood also is one of the sources of nutrition for them. 

Picture 1 of Discover menu of Africans used more than 5,000 years before migration
Mangroves on pristine Farasan Islands in Jizan, Saudi Arabia.

Scientists discover ancient landfills filled with shells along the Red Sea show that seafood was a staple menu of Africans migrating to Saudi Arabia 5,000 years ago

On the Farasan Islands of the Red Sea, along the ancient migration route from Africa to Saudi Arabia, many pits contain about 15,000 sea shells.

Dr Niklas Hausmann, principal author and researcher at the Department of Archeology - York University, UK, said: "Our data shows that at a time when many land resources were scarce, people were rely on sea shellfish to fight hunger. "

This is an extremely dry period in the region, the food source is scarce on the mainland, however, research shows the abundance of seafood in the sea.

Picture 2 of Discover menu of Africans used more than 5,000 years before migration
Bon Appétit: a living specimen of marine mollusks that has existed since prehistoric times near the island of Farasan.

By examining the shape and size of the shells, the researchers were able to figure out the stress levels and hunger levels of the migrants. A large percentage of shellfish belonging to immature individuals shows the number of adults eating everything regardless of small or small object.

There are also many shells that have grown, reaching adulthood, which indicates the abundance of marine life at the time.

In the past, evidence of extinct Neandtherhals has been actively harvested for seafood about 106,000 years ago.

Prehistoric migration flows began when Homo erectus first migrated out of Africa via the Levantine corridor and the Horn of Africa to the Eurasian continent about millions of years ago.

The migration may stem from the development of language . The expansion of H. erectus from Africa was followed by Homo antecessors into Europe, then Homo heidelbergensis and here they may have evolved into Neanderthals.