People have eaten fish from 40,000 years ago

At least one of our ancestors regularly used fish as food, according to a recent study.

Scientists analyzed the chemical composition of collagen protein in ancient human bones found in Tianyuan Cave near Beijing and reached the conclusion.

Researchers believe that catching fish at this time must be very difficult, requiring a lot of effort, since fossil data show that people at that time did not use any sophisticated tools - they just simply using stone blades - until 50,000 years ago.

'This analysis provides the first direct evidence to support the assumption of primitive modern people in China who know how to take advantage of aquatic resources and give suggestions about the survival of early modern people. , ' Michael P. Richards, scientist from Max Plack Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.

Other researchers also theorized that the use of fish as food then helped the human brain grow larger, although the addition of protein from terrestrial animal meat to the diet is about 2 million Last year is still an important factor. (Other factors, such as the need to survive the pressure of environmental disasters, also enhance the development of the human brain.)

However, the switch to a more fish-eating diet as a result of this new study reflects greater pressure from population size expansion when modern people begin to distribute throughout the Eurasian continent, citing Richards and colleagues.

The findings are detailed in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences this week.