For years, popular culture has sold us the image of a prehistoric man whose diet was based almost exclusively on devouring large amounts of roast meat. However, science has been dismantling this myth for years, and now a study has analyzed the remains embedded in ancient vessels, which is the equivalent of ‘socarrat‘of Valencian paella. And the results suggest that our ancestors were, in reality, extremely creative cooks.
What has been seen. Beyond what we think, that the prey of the day was hunted and immediately roasted on the fire, science has proven that European hunters almost 8,000 years ago combined freshwater fish with a wide variety of vegetables, using advanced culinary techniques to improve flavors and neutralize toxins. Something similar to what we do today in the kitchen, as reported by El País.
Where did we see it? The study, with Spanish participation, reached this conclusion without having to search in the fossilized bones, but in something much more subtle such as the scabs of charred food adhered to 85 ceramic fragments that come from 13 archaeological sites in northern and eastern Europe.
How it was done. Once these remains were located, it was decided to apply cutting-edge technology, such as scanning electron microscopy combined with molecular analysis of these remains.
Until now, plant remains in archeology used to be underestimated because they degrade much faster than animal bones. But the electron microscope has revealed an astonishing level of detail, detecting plant cell tissues and microscopic fish scales that have been able to survive millennia thanks to being burned and adhering to clay.
The results. With all these techniques we have been able to answer what was cooked in those clay pots, and the truth is that we must forget the idea of having a piece of meat on the fire, but instead recipes have been revealed that meticulously mixed proteins and carbohydrates.
The researchers were able to see remains of freshwater fish here, highlighting carp and barbel, leafy vegetables such as spinach, roots and bulbs such as beets, and also berries. Viburnum opulus.
A prehistoric chef. Perhaps the most fascinating discovery of González Carretero’s team is the sophistication of the culinary techniques, since the berries of Viburnum opulus They are known to be slightly toxic when raw and have a tremendously acidic and bitter taste.
However, prehistoric inhabitants discovered that by simmering them in a broth with high-fat fish, the bitterness was neutralized, making them digestive and safe for human consumption. And this mixture was not accidental, but a handed down recipe that always sought to improve the flavor.
Culinary revolution. This work joins a growing wave of studies that are rewriting the history of our diet. Already in 2018 it was published in PNAS the discovery of the oldest “bread” in the world in Jordan, baked 14,400 years ago, long before agriculture was invented. But now these food remains point to the fact that the so-called paleo diet did not exist as they wanted to sell it to us.
We learned that our ancestors knew their environment perfectly, mastered the processing of toxic plants and spent time preparing complex stews where vegetables and tubers were main dishes, not a simple garnish.
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