Was the Paleo and Meso Diet high in toxic metals

[Angela]

See:
https://www.science.org/content/article/real-paleo-diet-may-have-been-full-toxic-metals

Well, you'd need results from at least half a dozen sites, but if the results were all in this range, yeah, it would be a problem.

High Mercury levels:
"Mercury poisoning may cause slow reflexes, damaged motor skills, and intelligence disorders. High levels of mercury in the blood may put a person at risk for long-term neurological damage. These effects may be more pronounced in children who are still developing."

I remember hearing this specifically when I was present.
"Mercury affects children and unborn children the worst. It has been proven to cause permanent brain and neurological damage.It also reduces cognitive abilities and is known to cause developmental problems.
Thus, women who are pregnant and young children should stay away from eating too much fish (see “Mercury Levels in Popular Fish” below) and from drinking mercury in water.

High Cadmium levels:
Risk of kidney disease & renal damage
Cancer, including lung cancer
Nervous system and circulatory system damage

High Lead levels:
The following health problems are documented in adults that have had lead in their drinking water:

• Higher blood pressure
• Risk of developing hypertension
• Nerve damage and disorders
• Cardiovascular problems
• Reduced kidney function
• Reduced fertility in both men and women

 

[bicicleur 2]

I don't expect similar results from different sizes.
Different climates and different biotopes.
In Europe - and probably also in many other parts of the world - the paleo diet was not the same as the meso diet.
In the paleolithic much of Europe was covered by tundra, and hunters migrated along with the large herbivores.
In the mesolithic much of Europe become covered by forests.
The HG became more sedentary and relied primarely on sweat water fishing.

I'm surprised though to learn about mercury in fish and cadmium in seals.
I wonder how it got there.
Few decades ago there was a lot ado about fish containing mercury.
Pollution by the industry was the culprit then.

 

[jose luis]

This does not apply to all Paleolithic and Mesolithic sites.
This article only talks about marine organisms with high levels of heavy metals, mercury, lead and cadmium, at the end of the North Atlantic thaw, proposing that these elements were "leached into the oceans in greater concentrations after sea level rise covered more land."
I have never heard of these heavy metals in the remains of marine organisms in human settlements on the coasts of much larger areas, flooded by the meltwater. Indonesia was a subcontinent, the China Sea and Beringia made part of the mainland. The entire Persian Gulf was also part of mainland. This contamination in the Atlantic could come from Icelandic volcanism. Were there volcanic crises in Iceland at this epoch? Although there are some deposits of them on the surface, heavy metals, because they are heavy, sink to the deepest layers of the planet, from where they are projected into the atmosphere by the volcanoes, and then rain down in dust and fragments. There may also have been a source of contamination at the time, of volcanic origin or not, on the subsoil of the Atlantic, which would have already been submerged before the thaw.