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Lucquin A, Robson HK, Oras E, Lundy J, Moretti G, González Carretero L, Dekker J, Demirci Ö, Dolbunova E, McLaughlin TR, Piezonka H, Talbot HM, Adamczak K, Czekaj-Zastawny A, Groß D, Gumiński W, Hartz S, Kabaciński J, Koivisto S, Linge TE, Meyer AK, Mökkönen T, Philippsen B, Piličiauskas G, Visocka V, Kriiska A, Raemaekers D, Meadows J, Heron C, Craig OE. The impact of farming on prehistoric culinary practices throughout Northern Europe. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2310138120. [PMID: 37844237 PMCID: PMC10614617 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2310138120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2023] [Accepted: 09/11/2023] [Indexed: 10/18/2023] Open
Abstract
To investigate changes in culinary practices associated with the arrival of farming, we analysed the organic residues of over 1,000 pottery vessels from hunter-gatherer-fisher and early agricultural sites across Northern Europe from the Lower Rhine Basin to the Northeastern Baltic. Here, pottery was widely used by hunter-gatherer-fishers prior to the introduction of domesticated animals and plants. Overall, there was surprising continuity in the way that hunter-gatherer-fishers and farmers used pottery. Both aquatic products and wild plants remained prevalent, a pattern repeated consistently across the study area. We argue that the rapid adaptation of farming communities to exploit coastal and lagoonal resources facilitated their northerly expansion, and in some cases, hunting, gathering, and fishing became the most dominant subsistence strategy. Nevertheless, dairy products frequently appear in pottery associated with the earliest farming groups often mixed with wild plants and fish. Interestingly, we also find compelling evidence of dairy products in hunter-gatherer-fisher Ertebølle pottery, which predates the arrival of domesticated animals. We propose that Ertebølle hunter-gatherer-fishers frequently acquired dairy products through exchange with adjacent farming communities prior to the transition. The continuity observed in pottery use across the transition to farming contrasts with the analysis of human remains which shows substantial demographic change through ancient DNA and, in some cases, a reduction in marine consumption through stable isotope analysis. We postulate that farmers acquired the knowledge and skills they needed to succeed from local hunter-gatherer-fishers but without substantial admixture.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexandre Lucquin
- BioArCh, Department of Archaeology, University of York, YorkYO10 5DD, United Kingdom
| | - Harry K. Robson
- BioArCh, Department of Archaeology, University of York, YorkYO10 5DD, United Kingdom
| | - Ester Oras
- Institute of History and Archaeology, Institute of Chemistry, University of Tartu, Tartu50411, Estonia
- Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study, Uppsala752 38, Sweden
| | - Jasmine Lundy
- BioArCh, Department of Archaeology, University of York, YorkYO10 5DD, United Kingdom
| | | | | | - Joannes Dekker
- BioArCh, Department of Archaeology, University of York, YorkYO10 5DD, United Kingdom
- Section for Geobiology, Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen1350, Denmark
| | - Özge Demirci
- BioArCh, Department of Archaeology, University of York, YorkYO10 5DD, United Kingdom
- Groningen Institute of Archaeology, University of Groningen, Groningen9712, Netherlands
| | - Ekaterina Dolbunova
- The British Museum, LondonWC1B 3DG, United Kingdom
- Department of Archaeology of Eastern Europe and Siberia, State Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg190000, Russia
| | | | - Henny Piezonka
- Institute of Prehistoric Archaeology, Department of History and Cultural Studies, Free University, Berlin14195, Germany
| | - Helen M. Talbot
- BioArCh, Department of Archaeology, University of York, YorkYO10 5DD, United Kingdom
| | - Kamil Adamczak
- Institute of Archaeology, Faculty of History, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Toruń87-100, Poland
| | - Agnieszka Czekaj-Zastawny
- Centre for Archaeology of Hills and Uplands, Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Kraków00-927, Poland
| | - Daniel Groß
- Museum Lolland-Falster, Nykøbing F.4800, Denmark
| | - Witold Gumiński
- Faculty of Archaeology, University of Warsaw, Warsaw00-927, Poland
| | - Sönke Hartz
- Stiftung Schleswig-Holsteinische Landesmuseen, Schloss Gottorf, Schleswig24837, Germany
| | - Jacek Kabaciński
- Centre for Archaeology of Hills and Uplands, Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Kraków00-927, Poland
| | - Satu Koivisto
- Department of Archaeology, University of Turku, TurkuFI-20014, Finland
| | - Trond Eilev Linge
- University Museum of Bergen, Section for Cultural Heritage Management, Bergen5007, Norway
| | - Ann-Katrin Meyer
- Institute of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Archaeology, University of Hamburg, Hamburg20146, Germany
| | - Teemu Mökkönen
- Cultural Environment Services, The Finnish Heritage Agency, Helsinki913, Finland
| | - Bente Philippsen
- NTNU University Museum, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, TrondheimNO-7491, Norway
| | | | - Vanda Visocka
- Department of History and Archaeology, Faculty of History and Philosophy, University of Latvia, Rīga1050, Latvia
| | - Aivar Kriiska
- Department of Archaeology, Institute of History and Archaeology, University of Tartu, Tartu50090, Estonia
| | - Daan Raemaekers
- Groningen Institute of Archaeology, University of Groningen, Groningen9712, Netherlands
| | - John Meadows
- Centre for Baltic and Scandinavian Archaeology, Schleswig24837, Germany
| | - Carl Heron
- The British Museum, LondonWC1B 3DG, United Kingdom
| | - Oliver E. Craig
- BioArCh, Department of Archaeology, University of York, YorkYO10 5DD, United Kingdom
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