Eating insects

Ever time you see Paleo peoples hunting they are portrayed spearing giant mammoths, or driving extinct bison over a cliff.  Archaeologists study prehistoric coprolites, fossilized dung, from human habitations have identified food eaten thousands of years ago...meat, plant matter, nuts, berries, - and insects.  Coprolites from Lakeside Cave in the Great Basin of the US, reveal that grasshoppers were harvested and consumed 4,500 years ago.  Coprolites with insects parts and exoskeletons have been recovered from numerous sites around the US.  Seasonal insects provided key nutrients and were low risk compared to hunting.  At a session of the Bois d’ Arc Primitive Skills Gathering & Knap In, in Missouri,  I participated in eating insects.  In the early morning, while it was cooler and some insects were moving slower, we gathered grasshoppers, crickets, wasp larvae, grubs, wolf and orb spiders. These were fried to kill any internal parasites and consumed by the adults and children.  Initially the idea of eating insects was a mental challenge, but diminished with each bite.  A lot of the insects were either nutty or buttery tasting.  We envision early people’s eating meat , but clearly they took advantage of other opportunistic protein resources.  (Bottom:  oldest known Neanderthal fecal matter, 50,000 years ago, from El Salt in Spain.)