Settling in Tibet required a Western import

Western mountain climbers are fortunate that there are Sherpas to guide them up Mount Everest. While Westerners can train for years and still not make the summit—although they may still get headlines—Sherpas do it repeatedly, with little fanfare, and while carrying food, packs, and oxygen for their clients. Anthropologists have long been wondering how any humans ever managed to start living up at the Roof of the World in the first place. New work suggests that one of the keys is very, very mundane—nothing like their having superpowers or anything like that. No, the key is... barley.

The northeastern Tibetan Plateau is at an inhospitable elevation, approximately 3,000-4,000 meters above sea level. Yet there are traces of human life there dating back at least 20,000 years BP (Before Present, Present being defined as January 1, 1950, as used in radiocarbon dating). And indications are that at least some aspects of altitude tolerance had evolved long before then (see sidebar).

Handprints, footprints, small hearths, and stone tools have been found from this early period, but these artifacts are probably evidence of temporary hunting camps, each used perhaps only once when parties ventured onto the plateau seeking game. These types of objects do not imply any kind of permanent human habitation up there.