On a humid morning in the Venezuelan savanna, Pumé women and children walk in single file toward a sandy patch where tubers grow close to the surface. Even toddlers carry small baskets, eager to collect the thumb-sized roots that sustain the group during this season. Back at camp, the day’s hunters return empty-handed, but the women and children get to work: peeling, soaking, and roasting the bitter tubers until they’re edible.
For decades, anthropologists have noted this quiet rhythm: while men’s hunting often dominates the narrative of human evolution, it’s the steady labor of women and children that has reliably kept communities alive. Their story challenges us to rethink who really kept humanity fed and what that reveals about our past.
Click through the gallery to see how these mealtime traditions reveal a different side of our evolutionary story.