Biogeochemical approaches have provided insights into the diets of early hominins and more recent humans. Revelations in the past few years, in particular, have fundamentally changed our understanding of the diets of several hominin taxa, and in so doing, are shaping the dialogue about the selective pressures faced by our ancestors. Moreover, data have recently been generated for nearly the entire suite of African hominins, which allows us to address questions about regional and temporal differences, as well as about the relationship between diet and morphology in new ways. Here, I discuss these data, how they are shaping our thinking about human evolution, and try to draw some general conclusions about the contributions of biogeochemistry to our understanding of the past.

Biogeochemical contributions to our understanding of hominin diet

245th National Meeting (2013)

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