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Tyler Gach
Study Guide 2-3 – Kottak, Chapter 9; Film
Watch: “Did Cooking Make Us Human?”
-Take detailed notes over the film.
As our bodies have adapted, we can no longer eat what our ancestors used to live off. Our
digestive systems are completely different with years of change. Had they continued of the diet
they might have starved to death. Eating meat changed our diets. This can be seen in the film
when the people are on a diet of veggies, they have digestive problems, and it takes them almost
all day to thoroughly eat all the provided foods.
Australopith teeth were not capable of processing meat, but highly effective for veggies since the
teeth were big and flat which was perfect for splitting them into two. What habilis did was use
tools to break down the meat and be more easily eaten. This resulted in a larger brain size for
habilis compared to australopith. The sharper teeth could process a hold through the meet. The
teeth became smaller and sharper. In the film they took both teeth and show examples of each
ancestor eating meat as well as vegetables. Our closer relatives could put a hole in the meat while
australopith could not even make a dent or attempt to eat the meat.
Dr. Bob Brain had found burned bones along with the Homo erectus bones. Those burnt bones
show that homo erectus could have used fire to cook their meat to eat it. The bones have either
been burnt or butchered, but not both. Waiting for both is the key to deciding if they have been
cooked.
The mice that cooked their food had more energy, and they got fat. In the show they presented
