Millennia-old pottery remains from across Europe reveal that ancient communities in the region made elaborate meals using a much greater variety of plant and animal products than previously believed, according to a new study.
Archaeologists interpret diets of ancient cultures by analysing fatty residues in pottery remains. But this method mostly only provides insights into meat-based foods.
The new study combined multiple techniques, including microscopic examination and chemical analysis, to identify the remains of plants eaten by ancient European hunter-gatherers.
It examined organic residues left behind on nearly 60 pottery shards found across 13 archaeological sites in northern and eastern Europe, dating to between the 6th and 3rd millennium BC.
Using this multipronged approach, researchers recovered tissue samples of a variety of plants, including grasses, berries, leaves, and seeds, alongside residues of fish and other seafood.
“We found that hunter-gatherer fishers were not living on fish alone, they were actively processing and consuming a wide variety of plants,” they wrote in the study published in the journal PLOS One.
The mixture of residues and ingredients varied from region to region, likely a reflection of the kinds of resources locally available as well as local cultural practices.
For instance, in the Baltic region, Viburnum berries were frequently found in the pottery foodcrusts with a high concentration of freshwater fish, “implying a targeted selection of ingredients”, the study noted. “Microscopic analysis revealed a higher frequency of freshwater fish in pottery from the Lithuanian sites in contrast with a more varied range of animal products identified through lipid residue analysis from the site of Syltholm II in southern Denmark.”
The findings suggest that plants and aquatic foods played a key role in the diets of early Europeans.
Different types of pottery were used for food preparation, and each culture had their own complex culinary traditions.
Specifically, archaeologists found that there was a general tendency among prehistoric European hunter-gatherers towards combining “specific foods into distinct preparations”.
Citing an example, they said Viburnum berries often appeared to be the “sole plant ingredient mixed with freshwater fish”.
“This research underscores that to truly understand ancient diets, we need to take a closer look at these food crusts, quite literally,” they wrote.
"While conventional chemical analysis tends to highlight the animal-based components of ancient meals, our combined microscopic approach has brought these prehistoric recipes back into focus.”
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