When was dehydration discovered?

Answer 1

Dehydration as a medical term is as old as mankind. The dangers of not drinking water are discussed in The Bible. The Egyptians learned of dehydration by accidentally figuring out how to mummify their dead.

Dehydration of food is an ancient means of preservation of food. The time honored jerky method of preserving meat has been known for millennia, so there is no actual date for the process of drying food.

But...On the Lighter Side...Ogg figured out dehydration. Back in the misty days before recorded history, there was a tribe of inventors and deep thinkers. Ogg was the innovator, entrepreneur and explorer while Gronk the Y'egg man at this point in history was an accomplish and much sought after culinarian. His establishment, the Hungry Man, was literally the only place to go to find new and delightful food experiments.

One fine but hot summer afternoon, after the lunch rush was done, Ogg was in the mood for a little exploration and asked Gronk to accompany him on a quick hunting trip. Now Gronk was not an accomplished hunter and would prefer to sit and fish rather than chase after game. They decided to head down to the coast where they could do both.

The closed sign was hung out, the village was informed and the two friends set out on their trek. Never willing to pass up the chance to gather food, Gronk often stopped to pick berries and various sorts of wild veggies along the way. Ogg too, would spot small game and add to the collection of edibles.

The first camp was made and a pair of Sabre tooth rabbits were cleaned and prepared for supper. Gronk added a few swamp berries and some dried corn to a boiling pot of meat. Left near the fire, this soon became a thick bubbling cauldron of "stew". Both men ate well but there was much leftover. Never one to waste food, Ogg placed the cooled leftovers in a large skin bag and climbed up on a tall rock to store the gloopy mess away from small animals. First, he thought he should cover the cache of food so he piled heavy stones on top, smashing and squishing the mess together but on direction from Gronk, removed the rocks and simply left the bag in plain sight so they would remember to take it in the morning.

The next morning, the friends were woken by a large herd of mammoths and had to quickly gather their belongings and move out of the way. It was more than an hour later when Gronk remembered the flattened bag of food was left on the top of the rock.

To be continued......