The Thames as in the Thames where London, England is?
That's a very different river now to what it was in the stone age. I know it's practically a canal along many parts of it, especially upstream around Henley.
That's a very different river now to what it was in the stone age. I know it's practically a canal along many parts of it, especially upstream around Henley.
There are very built-up stretches, but there are also parts where it's just... water. Going through green fields. For hours. The biggest difference I can imagine with the stone age isn't the river itself, it's what's on the banks. It would have been far more wooded than it is now; lots that's currently farm would have been forest, and from that point of view foraging would probably have been a lot easier.
Obviously experimental archaeologists have to try and ignore airplanes, plastic bag waste, and their own good health and shiny teeth but I think this kind of activity is amazing.
Weren't the teeth of the average person back then much shinier because... no sugar?
* No dentists
* Not brushing teeth
* Plenty of sand, stones etc. in food (in particular, grinding grain with traditional millstones introduces a ton of sand in the flour).
* Many more diseases and infections that have negative impact on mouth biome and pH.
It's a common trope to point out white teeth of Hollywood actors in historic films.
People have practiced dental hygiene since forever:
> Since before recorded history, a variety of oral hygiene measures have been used for teeth cleaning. This has been verified by various excavations done throughout the world, in which chew sticks, tree twigs, bird feathers, animal bones and porcupine quills have been found. In historic times, different forms of tooth cleaning tools have been used. Indian medicine (Ayurveda) has used the neem tree, or daatun, and its products to create teeth cleaning twigs and similar products; a person chews one end of the neem twig until it somewhat resembles the bristles of a toothbrush, and then uses it to brush the teeth. In the Muslim world, the miswak, or siwak, made from a twig or root, has antiseptic properties and has been widely used since the Islamic Golden Age.