How Did Ancient Humans Know Which Plants Were Deadly?

Every plant on Earth is a chemical experiment. Some feed you. Some heal you. Some kill you slowly, and some kill you before you feel a thing. So how did prehistoric humans, with no labels, no doctors and no poison control, learn which plants were safe? This documentary follows the evidence: Ju/'hoansi foragers in the Kalahari, bitter manioc processing in the Amazon, the genes behind your sense of bitterness, wild chimpanzees treating illness, Neanderthal dental calculus from El Sidrón, and a 24,000-year-old stick from Border Cave. Known evidence, scientific interpretation and open debate are kept separate throughout. CHAPTERS 0:00 The berry problem 1:05 Why trial and error fails 1:39 The Kalahari foragers 2:39 Cultural transmission 3:17 Cassava and slow poison 4:18 Your inherited bitter alarm 5:34 What chimpanzees reveal 6:12 Neanderthals and medicinal plants 7:33 Why children refuse new food 8:45 The death cap problem 9:20 Border Cave 10:12 Names as warnings 11:17 Jomon detoxification 12:10 The final idea Topics: ancient humans, prehistoric survival, human origins, foraging, ethnobotany, Neanderthals, hunter-gatherers, evolutionary anthropology. #AncientHumans #PrehistoricSurvival #HumanOrigins