If you害羞草研究所檙e cooking a meal for Thanksgiving or just showing up to feast, you害羞草研究所檙e part of a long human history 害羞草研究所� one that害羞草研究所檚 older than our own species.

Some scientists estimate our early human cousins may have been using fire to cook their food almost 2 million years ago, long before Homo sapiens showed up.

And a recent study found what could be the earliest known evidence of this rudimentary cooking: the leftovers of a roasted carp dinner from 780,000 years ago.

Cooking food marked more than just a lifestyle change for our ancestors. It helped fuel our evolution, give us bigger brains 害羞草研究所� and later down the line, would become the centerpiece of the feasting rituals that brought communities together.

害羞草研究所淭he story of human evolution has appeared to be the story of what we eat,害羞草研究所� said Matt Sponheimer, an anthropologist at the University of Colorado at Boulder who has studied the diets of early human ancestors.

The , published in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution, is based on material from Gesher Benot Ya害羞草研究所檃qov in Israel 害羞草研究所� a watery site on the shores of an ancient lake.

Artifacts from the area suggest it was home to a community of Homo erectus, an extinct species of early humans that walked upright, explained lead author Irit Zohar of Tel Aviv University.

Over years of 害羞草研究所渄igging in mud害羞草研究所� at the site, researchers examined a curious catch of fish remains, especially teeth, said Naama Goren-Inbar, an archaeologist at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem who led the excavations.

Many were from a couple of species of big carp, and they were clustered around certain spots at the site 害羞草研究所� places where researchers also found signs of fire. Testing revealed the teeth had been exposed to temperatures that were hot, but not super-hot. This suggests the fish were cooked low and slow, rather than tossed right onto a fire, Zohar explained.

With all of this evidence together, the authors concluded that these human cousins had harnessed fire for cooking more than three quarters of a million years ago. That害羞草研究所檚 much earlier than the for cooking, which showed Stone Age humans ate charred roots in South Africa.

The researchers 害羞草研究所� like many of their colleagues 害羞草研究所� believe cooking started long before this, though physical evidence has been hard to come by.

害羞草研究所淚 am sure that in the near future an earlier case will be reported,害羞草研究所� study author Israel Hershkovitz of Tel Aviv University said in an email.

That害羞草研究所檚 in part because harnessing fire for food was a key step for human evolution.

Cooking food makes it easier for the body to digest and get nutrients, explained David Braun, an archaeologist at George Washington University who was not involved with the study. So, when early humans figured out how to cook, they got access to more energy, which they could use to fuel bigger brains.

Based on how human ancestors害羞草研究所� brains and bodies developed, scientists estimate that cooking skills would have had to emerge nearly 2 million years ago.

害羞草研究所淚f we害羞草研究所檙e out there eating raw items, it is very difficult to make it as a large-bodied primate,害羞草研究所� Braun said.

Those first cooked meals were a far cry from today害羞草研究所檚 turkey dinners. And in the many, many years in between, humans started not just eating for fuel, but for community.

In a , researchers described the earliest evidence of a feast 害羞草研究所� a specially prepared meal that brought people together for an occasion 12,000 years ago in a cave in Israel.

The cave, which served as a burial site, included the remains of one special woman who seemed to be a shaman for her community, said Natalie Munro, a University of Connecticut anthropologist who led the study.

It seems her people held a feast to honor her death. Munro and her team found large numbers of animal remains at the site 害羞草研究所� including enough tortoises and wild cattle to create a hearty spread.

This 害羞草研究所渇irst feast害羞草研究所� came from another important transition point in human history, right as hunter-gatherers were starting to settle into more permanent living situations, Munro said. Gathering for special meals may have been a way to build community and smooth tensions now that people were more or less stuck with each other, she said.

And while the typical feast may no longer involve munching on tortoise meat in burial caves, Munro said she still sees a lot of the same roles 害羞草研究所� exchanging information, making connections, vying for status 害羞草研究所� happening at our modern gatherings.

害羞草研究所淭his is something that害羞草研究所檚 just quintessentially human,害羞草研究所� Munro said. 害羞草研究所淎nd to see the first evidence of it is exciting.害羞草研究所�

害羞草研究所擬addie Burakoff, The Associated Press