Discovering the diet of farmers who lived 5,500 years ago

The life and times of our ancient Scandinavian ancestors hold a captivating charm that invites us to explore the details of their daily lives.

What did these early farmers eat, and how did they prepare their meals?

Recent discoveries from a 5,500-year-old Neolithic settlement has shed light on their surprising culinary practices.

Findings such as grindstones and charred grain kernels offer a glimpse into the resourcefulness and ingenuity of the Funnel Beaker Culture, revealing not just their diets but also their relationship with the land and its wild resources.

Understanding grindstones — the basics

Imagine large, flat stones that people would use to grind grains like wheat and barley into flour. These grindstones were essential for making bread and other staple foods, which helped communities settle down and develop agriculture.

They often had grooves or patterns carved into them to make the grinding process more efficient. People would place the grains on the grindstone and use a hand-held stone to crush them, turning raw seeds into something edible and nutritious.

Besides grinding grains, Neolithic grindstones also played a role in everyday life and social activities. They were often found in or near villages, showing how important food production was to these early communities.

Some grindstones were even decorated with carvings or symbols, indicating that they might have had cultural or ceremonial significance too.

By studying these ancient tools, archaeologists can learn a lot about the daily lives, diets, and technological advancements of our ancestors.

Grindestones and grain

Historians have unearthed an intriguing narrative from a settlement called Frydenlund, on the shores of Strandby Mark, southeast of Haarby on Funen.

The artifacts indicate that people from the Funnel Beaker Culture inhabited this settlement, which is remarkable for the fourteen grindstones that were discovered there.

In addition to these, over 5,000 charred grain kernels, including naked barley, emmer wheat, and durum wheat, were also found.

Scandinavian grinding stones

One might easily conclude that our ancestors ground these grains into flour for baking bread — a common presumption when one stumbles upon grindstones.

But, as it turns out, our ancestors had different culinary preferences!

As a research team from Denmark, Germany, and Spain discovered, cereals were not the being pulverized on these grindstones.

Upon analyzing mineral plant remains (phytoliths) and starch grains on the stones, the researchers found no evidence of cereals being ground. Instead, the starch grains identified came from wild plants.

The gruel reality

“We have not identified the plants the starch grains originate from. We have merely ruled out the most obvious candidates – namely the cereals found at the settlement, which were not ground, as well as various collected species, including hazelnuts,” says archaeobotanist Dr. Welmoed Out from Moesgaard Museum.

So what were the grinding stones used for?

While the exact interpretation still remains up for debate, scientists have ruled out the possibility that they were used for grinding grain.

The stones lack clear marks from the pushing movements typically associated with this process.

A porridge tale

According to senior researcher Dr. Niels H. Andersen, also from Moesgaard Museum, the grindstones were struck with pestles made of stone, much like crushing in a mortar.

This technique emerged 500 years later and was more suited to preparing gruel or porridge from grains, rather than baking bread.

The research conducted by scientists from Moesgaard Museum and Aarhus University in Denmark, in collaboration with scientists from Kiel University in Germany and the Spanish National Research Council (IMF-CSIC) in Barcelona, supports a hypothesis proposed by other archaeologists.

The first farmers of Northern Europe likely survived on water and gruel, along with berries, nuts, roots, and meat.

A thirst for historical accuracy

“And yes, they likely drank water,” adds Andersen.

Despite popular belief, there are no definitive traces of beer brewing in Denmark before the Bronze Age. Yet, researchers caution against applying these findings universally.

“This study only involves one settlement. While it supports other findings from the Funnel Beaker Culture, we cannot rule out the possibility of different results emerging when this method is applied to finds from other excavations,” Andersen concluded.

As contemporary explorers of ancient worlds, we’re left fascinated by these delicious glimpses into our past.

The next time you enjoy a hearty bowl of gruel or porridge, remember the ancient Scandinavian farmers who might have savored a similar meal, millennia ago.

Scandinavian farmers and their connection to nature

The findings from the Frydenlund settlement also highlight the deep connection between ancient Scandinavian farmers and their natural surroundings.

By prioritizing wild plants and natural resources, these early settlers demonstrated an intricate understanding of their environment.

The absence of cereal residues on grindstones, despite the abundance of charred grains, suggests that wild plants may have played a central role in their diet.

This reliance on natural resources extended beyond sustenance. It shaped their tools, agricultural practices, and perhaps even cultural rituals.

The use of grindstones for purposes other than grain grinding hints at a flexible and adaptive approach to food preparation, relying on what was seasonally and locally available.

These findings challenge the modern assumption that early farmers in Northern Europe followed a grain-heavy diet.

Instead, their culinary practices reflected a harmonious balance between cultivation and foraging, bridging the gap between agricultural innovation and traditional hunter-gatherer methods.

The full study was published in the journal Vegetation History and Archaeobotany.

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