Storerooms preserved meat, fish, and vegetables

A "paleo diet" in the ice-age was simple: communities ate anything they could get their hands on.

Unlike the popular belief that our ice-age ancestors feasted on red meat, several archaeological excavations have revealed that the real paleo diet did indeed include carbohydrates and starch. These provided life-saving energy.

In ice-age settlement kitchen middens and in fireplaces, scientists have found lots of evidence of seeds, nuts, and charred plant parts plus animal bones and oyster and sea shells. Scientists have determined that the menu varied according to region and season. Many people consumed mammoths, since the huge animals provided enough meat to feed an entire family for a year. Along with meat – fresh and air-dried – nuts, roots, and seeds made up important elements of the diet.

According to scientists, ice-age people were relatively healthy, because their food was rich in energy and vitamins. Death from "lifestyle" was rare. Death from misadventure, though, was almost certain, and life was short.