News: European hunter‑gatherers ate a more diverse diet than previously thought
News from the wires, our occasional series on recent history and archaeology research... Prehistoric Europeans had surprisingly complex cuisines, new research shows. Example of Mesolithic pot used in the study. Credit: Lara González Carreteri (CC-BY-4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) Thousands of years ago, European communities used a variety of plant and animal products to create elaborate meals, according to a study by Lara González Carretero of the University of York and colleagues. A common technique for interpreting the diets of ancient cultures involves analyzing fatty residues in ancient pottery. This method is limited, however, as it mostly provides insights only into animal remains. In this study in PLoS One, the authors combined multiple techniques, including microscopic examination and chemical analysis, to identify the remains of plants that were eaten by ancient European hunter-gatherers. Researchers examined organic remains found in 58 pieces of pottery...