Tubers as fallback foods and their impact on Hadza hunter-gatherers.
Abstract
The Hadza are hunter‐gatherers in Tanzania. Their diet can be conveniently categorized into five main categories: tubers, berries, meat, baobab, and honey. We showed the Hadza photos of these foods and asked them to rank them in order of preference. Honey was ranked the highest. Tubers, as expected from their low caloric value, were ranked lowest. Given that tubers are least preferred, we used kilograms of tubers arriving in camp across the year as a minimum estimate of their availability. Tubers fit the definition of fallback foods because they are the most continuously available but least preferred foods. Tubers are more often taken when berries are least available. We examined the impact of all foods by assessing variation in adult body mass index (BMI) and percent body fat (%BF) in relation to amount of foods arriving in camp. We found, controlling for region and season, women of reproductive age had a higher %BF in camps where more meat was acquired and a lower %BF where more tubers were taken. We discuss the implications of these results for the Hadza. We also discuss the importance of tubers in human evolution. Am J Phys Anthropol, 140:751–758, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
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Many hunter-gatherers seasonally consume a large portion of their daily calories as honey.
“For example, while Western diets are certainly more sugar-rich and energy-dense than more “traditional” diets and wild foods [4], [8], [9], many hunter-gatherers seasonally consume a large portion of their daily calories as honey [10], [11] (Fig. S2), which has high concentrations of glucose and fructose [12].”
From Hunter-gatherer energetics and human obesity (2012) · cites this paper as [11]
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Assessing digestibility of Hadza tubers using a dynamic in‐vitro model
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“…et al., 2008) to thirty minutes, with the lower end of this range, described as “light roasting” (Tomita, 1966) and resulting in “lightly charred” tubers (Woodburn, 1966), cited as approximately five minutes (Woodburn, 1968; O’Connell et al., 1999; Mallol et al., 2007; Marlowe and Berbesque, 2009).”
BackgroundInfluentialSelf-citationPollen, People and Place: Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Ecosystem Change at Amboseli, Kenya
Githumbi, E. N., Kariuki, R. W., Shoemaker, A., Mustaphi, C. J. C., Chuhila, M. J., Richer, S., Lane, P. J., & Marchant, R. (2018) · Frontiers in Earth Science · doi:10.3389/feart.2017.00113 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
“…plant use in east Africa, but ethnographic analogies suggest people would have been consuming, tending, and transplanting Frontiers in Earth Science | www.frontiersin.org 10 January 2018 | Volume 5 | Article 113 wild plants to varying degrees (Marshall, 2001; Marlowe and Berbesque, 2009).”
BackgroundBenito‐Calvo, A., Crittenden, A. N., Livengood, S. V., Sánchez‐Romero, L., Martínez‐Fernández, A., de la Torre, I., & Pante, M. C. (2018) · Journal of Archaeological Science Reports · doi:10.1016/j.jasrep.2018.06.003 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
“This means that for large portions of the year, the bulk of their diet is derived from wild foods (Berbesque and Marlowe and Berbesque, 2009; Crittenden, 2016; Marlowe, 2010).”
BackgroundBello-Alonso, P., Ríos-Garaizar, J., Panera, J., Pérez‐González, A., Rubio‐Jara, S., Rojas-Mendoza, R., Domínguez‐Rodrigo, M., Baquedano, E., & Santonja, M. (2019) · Quaternary International · doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2019.09.025 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
Why hunt? Why gather? Why share? Hadza assessments of foraging and food-sharing motive
Stibbard‐Hawkes, D. N. E., Smith, K. M., & Apicella, C. L. (2022) · Evolution and Human Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2022.03.001 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
Lambert, J. E. (2009) · American Journal of Physical Anthropology · doi:10.1002/ajpa.21203 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
“…to test hypotheses regarding relationships between food availability and behavior (e.g., Altmann, 2009; Doran-Sheehy et al., 2009; Greuter et al., 2009; Marlowe and Berbesque, 2009; Marshall et al., 2009; Sauther et al., 2009; Yamagiwa and Basabose, 2009; Vogel et al., 2009; Wrangham et al., 2009).”
BackgroundBello-Alonso, P., Ríos-Garaizar, J., Panera, J., Rubio‐Jara, S., Pérez‐González, A., Rojas, R. F., Baquedano, E., Mabulla, A. Z. P., Domínguez‐Rodrigo, M., & Santonja, M. (2021) · Quaternary Science Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2021.106980 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
Hunter-Gatherer-Fishers, Ethnoarchaeology, and Analogical Reasoning
Lane, P. J. (2014) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199551224.013.024 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
Arráiz, H., Barbarin, N., Pasturel, M., Beaufort, L., Domínguez‐Rodrigo, M., & Barboni, D. (2016) · Journal of Archaeological Science Reports · doi:10.1016/j.jasrep.2016.03.039 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
Ochoa, J. J., & Ladio, A. H. (2011) · Bonplandia · doi:10.30972/bon.2021415 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Botha, M. S., Cowling, R. M., Esler, K. J., Vynck, J. C. D., & Potts, A. (2019) · South African Journal of Botany · doi:10.1016/j.sajb.2019.01.013 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
FUNCTIONAL MORPHOLOGY, STABLE ISOTOPES, AND HUMAN EVOLUTION: A MODEL OF CONSILIENCE
Yeakel, J. D., Dominy, N. J., Koch, P. L., & Mangel, M. (2013) · Evolution · doi:10.1111/evo.12240 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
“Plants with geophytic structures are both diverse and abundant in arid habitats (Pate and Dixon 1982; Vincent 1985; Procheş et al. 2006), and modern hunter-gatherers use these resources extensively, particularly in marginal environments (Campbell 1986; Marlowe 2003; Marlowe and Berbesque 2009).”
BackgroundOchoa, J. J., & Ladio, A. H. (2015) · Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine · doi:10.1186/s13002-015-0053-z · Cited by 19 · see citing works
“The use of tubers of Dioscorea species in Africa [8, 14], is another example of the place of USOs in the food culture of different part of the world.”
BackgroundSomerville, A. D., Martin, M. A., Hayes, L. P., Hayward, D., Walker, P. L., & Schoeninger, M. J. (2017) · Current Anthropology · doi:10.1086/690142 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
“At the biological level, humans across cultures exhibit a natural aversion to sour and bitter foods and demonstrate a preference for salty, fatty, sweet, and generally energy-dense food items (Birch 1999; Cowart 1981; Desor, Maller, andGreene 1977;Marlowe and Berbesque 2009).”
BackgroundExperimental approaches to the development of use-wear traces on volcanic rocks: basalts
Bello-Alonso, P., Ríos-Garaizar, J., Panera, J., Martín‐Perea, D., Rubio‐Jara, S., Pérez‐González, A., Rojas-Mendoza, R., Domínguez‐Rodrigo, M., Baquedano, E., & Santonja, M. (2020) · Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences · doi:10.1007/s12520-020-01058-6 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
“…to data observed in the archeological record (Keeley and Toth 1981; Keeley 1997; Domínguez-Rodrigo et al. 2001; Lemorini et al. 2014, 2019; Yravedra et al. 2016, 2017), early hominid dietary studies (Ungar et al. 2006), and ethnographic reports (Marlowe and Berbesque 2009; Pontzer et al. 2012).”
BackgroundHidden Depths: The Origins of Human Connection
Spikins, P. (2022) · White Rose University Press eBooks · doi:10.22599/hiddendepths · Cited by 19 · see citing works
Dunne, J., Salvatori, S., Maritan, L., Manning, K., Linseele, V., Gillard, T., Breeze, P. S., Drake, N., Evershed, R. P., & Usai, D. (2022) · African Archaeological Review · doi:10.1007/s10437-022-09490-w · Cited by 19 · see citing works
“Today, their rhizomes are widely used as food by humans (Ertuğ, 2000; Gragson, 1997; Marlowe & Berbesque, 2009; Mattalia et al., 2013; Ochoa & Ladio, 2015; Vickers & Plowman, 1984; Vincent, 1985) and as animal feed/forage (Abbiw, 1990; Kern, 1974; Kulhari & Joshi, 1992; Parsons & Cuthbertson,…”
Status does not predict stress: Women in an egalitarian hunter–gatherer society
Fedurek, P., Lacroix, L., Lehmann, J., Aktipis, A., Cronk, L., Townsend, C., Makambi, E. J., Mabulla, I. A., Behrends, V., & Berbesque, J. C. (2020) · Evolutionary Human Sciences · doi:10.1017/ehs.2020.44 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
“As tuber digging is a culturally valued skill (Marlowe & Berbesque, 2009), we expected that higher digging status would lead to lower cortisol levels.”
BackgroundInfluentialSelf-citationDo religious and market-based institutions promote cooperation in Hadza hunter-gatherers?
Stagnaro, M. N., Stibbard‐Hawkes, D. N. E., & Apicella, C. L. (2022) · Religion Brain & Behavior · doi:10.1080/2153599x.2021.2006293 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
“…hunting game (Hawkes et al., 1991; Stibbard-Hawkes et al., 2018; Stibbard-Hawkes, 2019; Wood & Marlowe, 2014) and collecting honey (Berbesque et al., 2016; Crittenden, 2011; Wood et al., 2014), while women typically forage for fruits and tubers (Marlowe & Berbesque, 2009; Schoeninger et al., 2001).”
BackgroundAn adaptive response to uncertainty can lead to weight gain during dieting attempts
Higginson, A. D., & McNamara, J. M. (2016) · Evolution Medicine and Public Health · doi:10.1093/emph/eow031 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
“We assume that humans have evolved in environments where the food supply fluctuates between limited and abundant, but also that there are times, years or seasons, where the proportion of time that food is abundant is greater or lesser [30, 34, 35].”
BackgroundPrado-Nóvoa, O., Mateos, A., Zorrilla-Revilla, G., Vidal-Cordasco, M., & Rodríguez, J. (2017) · Journal of Anthropological Archaeology · doi:10.1016/j.jaa.2016.12.002 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
“Certainly, the estimations of costs presented here may not be directly applied to the acquisition of other vegetal products that require specific gathering techniques such as digging, climbing or cutting down trees (Marlowe and Berbesque, 2009; Hawkes et al., 1982).”
BackgroundToddlers in Transition: Linear Enamel Hypoplasias in the Hadza of Tanzania
Ungar, P. S., Crittenden, A. N., & Rose, J. C. (2017) · International Journal of Osteoarchaeology · doi:10.1002/oa.2586 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Influences on plant nutritional variation and their potential effects on hominin diet selection
Henry, A. G., Hutschenreuther, A., Paine, O., Leichleiter, J., Codron, D., Codron, J., Loudon, J. E., Adolph, S., & Sponheimer, M. (2018) · Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology · doi:10.1016/j.revpalbo.2018.11.001 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
“These roots are often mentioned as good sources of NSC (sugars and starches) (Schoeninger et al., 2001; Laden and Wrangham, 2005; Marlowe and Berbesque, 2009; Schoeninger et al., 2001).”
BackgroundHabitat selection and human aesthetic responses to flowers
Hůla, M., & Jaroslav Flegr, A. (2021) · Evolutionary Human Sciences · doi:10.1017/ehs.2020.66 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
“In contrast, fruits are among the most important food sources (Heymann, 2011; Marlowe & Berbesque, 2009; Newton-Fisher, 1999; Peters et al., 1981, 1984).”
BackgroundThe microbiome’s fiber degradation profile and its relationship with the host diet
Cohen, Y., & Borenstein, E. (2022) · BMC Biology · doi:10.1186/s12915-022-01461-6 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
“Importantly, the Hadza diet is based on available resources in their environment and includes five main components: tubers, berries, meat, baobab, and honey [43].”
BackgroundSchnorr, S. L., Crittenden, A. N., & Henry, A. G. (2016) · Ethnoarchaeology · doi:10.1080/19442890.2016.1150629 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
“…fires are described in detail by Mallol et al. (2007) and tuber roasting fires, in particular, have been observed and anecdotally reported on in many additional studies (Hawkes 1996; Marlowe 2010; Marlowe and Berbesque 2009; Schoeninger et al. 2001; Tomita 1966; Vincent 1985; Woodburn 1968).”
BackgroundCiampagna, M. L., Molares, S., Ladio, A. H., & Capparelli, A. (2021) · Vegetation History and Archaeobotany · doi:10.1007/s00334-020-00818-7 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
“…USO taxa are managed either in rainforests or semi-arid regions, it is thought that there are larger numbers of them in the latter, where they have special importance for humans as fallback food, especially during summer (Laden and Wrangham 2005; Marlowe and Berbesque 2009; Molares and Ladio 2012).”
BackgroundTropical forager gastrophagy and its implications for extinct hominin diets
Buck, L. T., Berbesque, J. C., Wood, B. M., & Stringer, C. B. (2015) · Journal of Archaeological Science Reports · doi:10.1016/j.jasrep.2015.09.025 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
“Since the Hadza take such a large variety of species and range widely, they acquire a substantial amount of fruit and tubers across the year (Marlowe & Berbesque, 2009).”
BackgroundSelf-citationEconomic Stressors and the Demand for “Fattening” Foods
Smith, T. G. (2011) · American Journal of Agricultural Economics · doi:10.1093/ajae/aar111 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Deschner, T., Hohmann, G., Ortmann, S., Schaebs, F. S., & Behringer, V. (2019) · General and Comparative Endocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.ygcen.2019.113290 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Falsehoods and facts about dietary sugars: a call for evidence-based policy
Archer, E., & Arjmandi, B. H. (2020) · Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition · doi:10.1080/10408398.2020.1804320 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Organista, E., Moclán, A., Aramendi, J., Cobo‐Sánchez, L., Egeland, C. P., Uribelarrea, D., Martín‐Perea, D., Vegara‐Riquelme, M., Hernández-Vivanco, L., Gidna, A., et al. (2022) · Quaternary Science Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2022.107913 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
“Ethnographic and ethological studies demonstrate that the seasonal changes and the selection of certain habitats would have profound implications in food-procurement strategies (e.g., Speth, 1987; Abraham et al., 2022; Marlowe and Berbesque, 2009; Oelze et al., 2014).”
BackgroundScarcity signaling in sales promotion: An evolutionary perspective of food choice and weight status
Peschel, A. O. (2021) · Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services · doi:10.1016/j.jretconser.2021.102512 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Smith, E., Bowles, S., Hertz, T., Mulder, M. B., Shenk, M., & Gurven, M. (2010) · Current Anthropology · doi:10.1086/650152 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Dental microwear of living Hadza foragers
Ungar, P. S., Livengood, S. V., & Crittenden, A. N. (2019) · American Journal of Physical Anthropology · doi:10.1002/ajpa.23836 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Maki, J. (2013) · Open Scholarship Institutional Repository (Washington University in St. Louis) · doi:10.7936/k7ns0rvc · Cited by 11 · see citing works
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“…et al. 2009), fruit (Sauther and Cuozzo 2009), bark (Knott 1998), exudates (Porter et al. 2009), invertebrates (Mosdossy et al. 2015), crops (Chancellor et al. 2012), and aquatic and terrestrial underground storage organs (Fashing et al. 2014; Marlowe and Berbesque 2009; Wrangham et al. 2009).”
BackgroundWhole-Genome Deep Sequencing of the Healthy Adult Nasal Microbiome
Cannon, M. L., Ferrer, G., Tesch, M. L., & Schipma, M. J. (2024) · Microorganisms · doi:10.3390/microorganisms12071407 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
“The surviving H. sapiens’ diet included tubers, often roasted in caves [42].”
BackgroundStatus does not predict stress among Hadza hunter-gatherer men
Fedurek, P., Lehmann, J., Lacroix, L. P., Aktipis, A., Cronk, L., Makambi, E. J., Mabulla, I. A., & Berbesque, J. C. (2023) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-023-28119-9 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
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High-precision tracking of human foragers reveals adaptive social information use in the wild
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Seasonality and Lithic Investment in the Oldowan
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Mountain living: The Holocene people of the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg, South Africa
Mazel, A. D. (2021) · Quaternary International · doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2021.04.039 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Age‐related tooth wear in African rainforest hunter‐gatherers
Romero, A., Rozzi, F. V. R., Cuesta‐Torralvo, E., & Pérez‐Pérez, A. (2019) · American Journal of Physical Anthropology · doi:10.1002/ajpa.23934 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Saturated fat in an evolutionary context
Garnås, E. (2025) · Lipids in Health and Disease · doi:10.1186/s12944-024-02399-0 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
“Their native diet consists mainly of honey, berries, fruit, meat, and tubers [83, 102].”
Household food security among Hadza hunter-gatherers in Mkalama district, Tanzania
Safari, J., Nkua, A. J., & Masanyiwa, Z. S. (2021) · Agriculture & Food Security · doi:10.1186/s40066-021-00293-x · Cited by 8 · see citing works
- Authors
- Marlowe, F. W., & Berbesque, J. C.
- Affiliations
- Florida State University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Marlowe, Frank W.
- ORCID
- Berbesque, Julia C.
- Venue
- American Journal of Physical Anthropology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2009-04-06
- Volume
- 140
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 751-758
- ISSN
- 0002-9483 (ISSN-L)
- 1096-8644
- OpenAlex
- W2016896745
- Cited by
- 149
- References
- 43
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 16 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 17 · 2015: 8 · 2014: 14 · 2013: 8 · 2012: 4
- FWCI
- 9.11
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- American Journal of Physical Anthropology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Indigenous Health and Education
- Social Sciences › Anthropology › Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Primate Behavior and Ecology
- Keywords
- tubers, fallback foods, Hadza, hunter-gatherers, food preferences, body fat percentage, body mass index, diet, meat consumption, human evolution, food availability, women of reproductive age
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Age Factors, Body Composition, Diet, Ethnicity, Female, Food Preferences, Humans, Male, Seasons, Sex Factors, Tanzania, Body Mass Index, Statistics, Nonparametric, Plant Tubers
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