Synonyms
Definition
The placement, dipping, or emersion of a food item in and out of water either before or during the consumption process.
Introduction
Food dunking is a relatively rare form of “borderline” or “proto”-tool use found among a few animal classes. It is primarily limited to Passeriformes within Aves and Primates within Mammalia, with a few exceptions among other birds and mammals. It is generally classified as “borderline” tool use (Bentley-Condit and Smith 2010) or proto-tool use (Morand-Ferron and Lefebvre 2007) rather than “true” tool use as a true tool is manipulated by the user while a borderline tool remains part of the substrate from which it originates (Bentley-Condit and Smith 2010). Thus, in dipping a food object into a water source, the food dunker does not control or manipulate the water even though the water is “used” to alter the food. In most cases, food dunking appears to be a food preparation technique. It is used primarily to either soften...
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References
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Bentley-Condit, V. (2018). Food Dunking. In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3166-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3166-1
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