What is it about?
Early farmers may have taken up fishing after observing indigenous hunter-gatherer communities in the Baltic region.
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Photo by Oshin Khandelwal on Unsplash
Why is it important?
Previous research throughout Europe has shown that early farmers did not cook aquatic resources in pottery - instead they started stock breeding and crop cultivation, even in coastal areas. In contrast, this research shows that early farmers who arrived in Northern Europe, including the Baltic Sea basin may have adopted fishing alongside their agricultural economy.
Perspectives
In one of the biggest studies of its kind, we have used exciting new methods in archaeological science to extract and interpret the remains of meals prepared during a fascinating period of transition in human history. Our results show a surprising overlap in culinary practices between communities representing old and new ways of life and suggest that the transition to farming may have been a more gradual process rather than a sudden switch.
Alexandre Lucquin
University of York
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: The impact of farming on prehistoric culinary practices throughout Northern Europe, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, October 2023, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2310138120.
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