Bee brood consumption: an alternative explanation for hypervitaminosis A in KNM-ER 1808 (Homo erectus) from Koobi Fora, Kenya

A Homo erectus individual (KNM-ER 1808) from Koobi Fora, Kenya dating from 1.6 million years exhibits pathological apposition of bone on long bone shafts. This was originally attributed to hypervitaminosis A from the consumption of carnivore livers. Bee brood has a sufficiently high concentration of vitamin A that protracted ingestion could theoretically produce hypervitaminosis A. 

The ecology of the East African bee, Apir mellifera scutelatta, is investigated to show that the density of nests with their brood contents within a reasonable foraging area ofearly Homo erectus would yield an ample and reliable energy source with deleteriously high vitamin A content. A potentia1 role of honey gathering and insect larvae consumption in hominine behavioural and physical evolution is discussed.

A key innovation in hominine evolution may have been the ability to find and obtain sequestered but plentiful and nutritionally rich foods such as bee brood. The avid honey hunting of our recent past may be but an echo of a much more important subsistence behaviour among our African ancestors in which humans and bees co-evolved.

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