Prehistoric Plant Users?

Creationists are grinning about dental calculus. Of course, we wouldn't be grinning so much about having to have our own removed. Rather, archaeologists made some cavities and are studying the remains of supposedly prehistoric people. Studying dental build-up has put evolutionists down in the mouth before, and it is happening again.

Evolutionary assumptions are that humans were stupid brutes early in their development, and they were too stupid to figure out how to use plants effectively. It seems that the people of this study knew about plants, and how to use them effectively — possibly for medicinal purposes. The results fit with biblical post-Flood dispersal models and put a cap on evolutionary guesses.

Al Khiday, near the Nile River in Central Sudan, contains five archaeological sites with burial grounds representing three cultures: one without evidence of agriculture, another with evidence of some agricultural development, and a more recent one suggesting a well-developed agricultural economy. In the context of biblical history, the oldest would be consistent with people descended from those dispersed from the Tower of Babel. The most recent of the civilizations represented, centered at the nearby city of Meroë, flourished from about 800 BC until about AD 350. 

The teeth from Al Khiday make possible dietary comparisons spanning a few thousand years in the same region. Donatella Usai, coauthor of the comparative study published in PLoS ONE, explains, “Al Khiday is a unique site in the Nile valley, where a large population lived for many thousands of years. This study demonstrates that they made good use of the locally available wild plant as food, as raw materials, and possibly even as medicine.”

To finish reading the entire article in context, brace yourself and click on "Plants for the “Prehistoric” Palate".