Monday, August 3, 2026
Science

Sri Lanka teeth reveal rising plant diets thousands of years before agriculture

A new study published in Nature Ecology and Evolution examining human populations in Sri Lankan tropical rainforests shows that people's consumption of plants began increasing thousands of years before the introduction of agriculture. The research focuses on human and animal remains dating from appr...

Sri Lanka teeth reveal rising plant diets thousands of years before agriculture
Image: Phys.org
A new study published in Nature Ecology and Evolution examining human populations in Sri Lankan tropical rainforests shows that people's consumption of plants began increasing thousands of years before the introduction of agriculture. The research focuses on human and animal remains dating from approximately 20,000 to 3,000 years ago and uses zinc isotope analysis of tooth enamel to reconstruct an organism's position in the food web—known as a trophic position—and dietary composition.

Originally published at Phys.org

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