Abstract
Abstract What did early hominins eat? What are the limits to our knowledge of the diets of early hominins? Philosophers call these first- and second-order questions, respectively (Rosenberg, 2001). The chapters in this volume address both. The basic idea is that by reconstructing the diets of early hominins, we can understand something of the adaptations of our distant ancestors and how we came to be the way we are today. Further, by assessing the limits to our knowledge, and by taking stock in our approaches to reconstructing diet, we should be able to make better progress toward answering questions about the adaptations and behaviors of the early hominins. In this chapter, I summarize and synthesize some of the issues raised by the contributors to this volume. First, I consider what we actually know (or, at least, think we know) about early hominin diets. Second, I consider second-order questions raised by contributions in this volume. Why should we study early hominin diets? What are the limits to our knowledge? What directions might our research take in the future?
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