* Registration required for Zoom access here *
Dr. Katherine Amato (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
In honor of the Maxwell Museum's temporary exhibit "Entangled Cultures: How Humans and Microbes Co-create through Fermentation," which closes Dec. 5, 2026, we are honored to have Dr. Amato join us this Fall semester.
Unlike most other vertebrates, humans utilize fermented foods as a central part of their diets globally. However, it remains unclear when during our evolutionary history, and why, humans began to consume fermented foods. In this talk, I will review existing knowledge regarding the timing and impetus for the emergence of fermented food use by humans. I will also present comparative behavioral and physiological data from extant nonhuman primates regarding the environmental contexts in which fermented foods are consumed. Using this information as a foundation, I will explore the hypothesis that fermented food use began as a nutritional strategy for early humans occupying harsh environments.
This public event is part of the UINM Department of Anthropology Colloquia Series and is co-sponsored by the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology.
