There’s a lot to like about the paleo movement. Lauren Cordain’s work has been been tremendously informative, and Robb Wolf’s book delivers some fierce insights on healthy (and unhealthy) eating.

And so it comes as no surprise that I keep my eyes open to new research and data from this domain. Today’s news comes from Durrington Walls, a late neolithic site of peoples though to be the builders of Stonehenge. Of interest (to me, and presumably the archeologists) is the following:

[At the site] …there was very little evidence of plant food preparation at any part of the site. The main evidence points to mass animal consumption, particularly of pigs. (source)

The article goes on to articulate what types of meat were predominant, how it was cooked, and the interesting role dairy foods appeared to play in the culture. It’s a fascinating read, and it only takes a minute.

Why is this interesting?

There is a theory out there than human genes evolved over time in response to a diet high in animal products and low in grains, fruits and veggies. It continues to hold that this way of eating is what modern peoples are ideally suited to. In other words, were evolutionarily designed to eat low carb/ketogenic diets. (And likely intermittent fasting.)

But, this is far from settled science. And even the communities that typically champion this low carb/paleo way of eating sometimes struggle with the notion that we’re not designed to eat carbs (at leas in the quantities we currently do). It’s not unusual to see them dial back the rhetoric and discuss ways in which carbs were actually a mainstay of such people. Sometimes they are special carbs, other times quite magical…

And so the science is unsettled. The rhetoric even moreso…but over time a preponderance of evidence will make clear what is otherwise muddled. Let’s pay attention, shall we?