Link: ‘Neolithic culinary traditions revealed by cereal, milk and meat lipids in pottery from Scottish crannogs’
One of the first pots to be discovered, an Unstan bowl from Loch Arnish in the Outer Hebrides. (Chris Murray)
A team of scientists, led by the University of Bristol, has uncovered intriguing new insights into the diet of people living in Neolithic Britain and found evidence that cereals, including wheat, were cooked in pots.
Using chemical analysis of ancient, and incredibly well-preserved pottery found in the waters surrounding small artificial islands called crannogs in Scotland, the team were able to discern that cereals were cooked in pots and mixed with dairy products and occasionally meat, probably to create early forms of gruel and stew.
They also discovered that the people visiting these crannogs used smaller pots to cook cereals with milk and larger pots for meat-based dishes.
