Several burial graves belonging to the Ropeware culture (4500 years old), discovered in Oechlitz, Saxony-Anhalt. A decorated ceramic vessel contained milk, while the vessel revealed traces of fat obtained from ruminants. Credit: State Office for Heritage Management and Archeology Saxony-Anhalt
Research analyzing grease residues from Central European pottery shows changes in diet over 4,000 years, linking changes in pottery styles and uses to the development of culinary preferences, from milk to pork and vice versa.
The first societies engaged in agriculture and pottery production appeared in Central Europe about 7,500 years ago, marked by the spread of the linear pottery culture of the early Neolithic. Over the following millennia, significant cultural diversity developed in this region, leading to different pottery styles and decorative techniques. While archaeologists have traditionally focused on the study of these types of pottery and decoration to distinguish prehistoric cultures, research into the content and function of these ceramic objects has been relatively limited.
In a groundbreaking study recently published in VERY ONE, scientists from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) and the State Office for Heritage Management and Archeology (LDA) of Saxony-Anhalt investigated the culinary traditions of central Germany between the Early Neolithic and the Late Bronze Age (from 3500 to 7500 years ago). ), and cultural relations with changes in pottery styles and decorations. Within Central Europe, Central Germany is one of the regions with the most pronounced prehistoric cultural diversity, due to the rich agricultural soil in the loess zone and other natural resources such as salt, which attracted people to settle there very early.
The study analyzed fat residues trapped in a set of 124 ceramic vessels of various shapes and sizes, with samples from tombs and settlements, preserved in the National Museum of Prehistory in Halle. The analyzes allowed the researchers to distinguish residual fats from milk, ruminants and non-ruminants, as well as from marine or plant origin. The samples analyzed in this study constitute the largest set of archaeological data for Germany to date.
The findings reveal various changes in pottery use and food preparation during this period, as well as the complex relationships these prehistoric populations established with food sources and primary methods of cooking, storage and eating. “This allowed us to see how specific culinary practices and tastes developed for different ways of cooking with ceramics, a diversity that would be very difficult to detect using other archaeological indicators,” says Adrià Breu, researcher at the Department of Prehistory at UAB. and first author of the article. “Although the livestock population, dominated mainly by cows and to a lesser extent goats, sheep and pigs, has remained stable over time, the consumption of animal products has changed significantly over the period studied,” he added.
From dairy products in cups to plates with lard
The results show that during the Middle Neolithic, about 5,500 years ago and coinciding with the Baalberga culture, the first signs of widespread consumption of dairy products appeared in the region. This change in diet was associated with the creation of small cups and amphorae with handles. The first would be used to pick up dairy products from other larger ships usually based in the colonies. This would be the first known case of prehistoric cups having a specialized use. “It is easy to imagine that at that time milk and its derivatives, cream, butter, cheese and yogurt, were highly valued and that the tradition of drinking or eating them in glasses developed, so characteristics such as the way we eat breakfast developed. . cups,” explains Adrià Breu.
At the end of the Neolithic period, 4,500 years ago, there were significant changes in the shapes and decorations of these cups, amphorae and vessels, which gave the name to the wire pottery culture that arrived from the Eurasian steppe. Analyzes have revealed that these types of pottery, particularly the double-handled amphorae, contained distinctly new culinary preferences for pork, with dairy products in the background. This change surprised the researchers because it was not accompanied by an increase in the pig population and reinforces the idea of the social value of this animal.
Grave of an adult man (30-50 years old) from the Wireware culture (4500 years old). The large decorated amphorae that were part of the funerary furniture mostly contained pork fat. Credit: State Office for Heritage Management and Archeology Saxony-Anhalt
The analysis of wire article containers also challenges previous considerations. “The content shows that food sources derived from milk were not as important as expected among the populations that came from Eastern Europe, considered to be pastoral nomads, nor does it confirm that the vessels were used for drinking beer, as previously stated,” explains Roberto. Risch, a researcher at UAB and co-author of the study.
Heavy use of dairy products continues, particularly among the Bell Beaker population, which does not seem to prefer pork. The use of wrapped cups for storing and serving dairy products was particularly common in burials near the Pömmelte circular enclosure. Most of the tombs contained a single drinking vessel as a funerary object, as part of what would have been a burial ritual specific to this archaeological site.
A variety of food in standardized and multifunctional containers
At the beginning of the Bronze Age, 4000 years ago, the diet of the Unetica culture was characterized by a greater variety of animal and plant products. Although they already had horses, this culture retained a taste for pork, but abandoned the tradition of drinking milk from small cups.
Unetice was one of the first state-structured companies in Europe, along with El Argar on the Iberian Peninsula. Highly hierarchical, with powerful time lords who encoded astronomical knowledge into the Celestial Disc of Nebra, they developed specialized crafts, such as earthenware. Food was consumed in standardized and multifunctional containers. “However, this increased standardization was not a response to more specialized use; on the contrary, the same glasses, like typical ironing glasses, were used for the preparation and consumption of food related to a wide variety of fats, perhaps in an attempt to appear equal in an increasingly unequal society,” explains Roberto Risch. .
In summary, the study shows how combining fat residue analysis with more conventional contextual and typological pottery studies can reveal the complex realities of changing attitudes and culinary practices that would otherwise escape dietary indicators. “The complex trends revealed in this work merit the development of future studies including a larger number of samples from each period,” the researchers conclude.