Agriculture, Sedentary Lifestyle Led Shift to Lighter Human Bones

Modern humans are heavier than our hunter-gatherer ancestors, but our bones are lighter. Now, an international team of researchers knows why: farming. As human society developed agriculture and shifted to a more sedentary lifestyle, beginning some 12,000 years ago, people no longer had to spend most of their days walking, running and lifting to get food. Those activities put bones under stress, and cause them to grow stronger. The researchers analyzed arm and leg bone samples from...

© La Voix de l'Amérique - lundi 18 mai 2015