The Funnel Beaker Culture, which flourished between 4000 and 2800 BCE in Southern Scandinavia and northern Germany, marks the first era when people in the region began farming and keeping livestock.
While researchers have studied their agricultural lifestyle for decades, the specifics of their diet—especially what they ate beyond cereals—remained a mystery.
A recent study has shed light on the diverse menu of these early farmers.
Researchers from the Collaborative Research Center (CRC) 1266 in Kiel analyzed ancient plant remains found on grinding stones from a Neolithic settlement called Oldenburg LA 77.
Their findings, published in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, reveal a rich variety of food ingredients that these early farmers processed and consumed.
Discovering the past at Oldenburg LA 77
Oldenburg LA 77 was a Middle Neolithic village that existed between 3270 and 2920 BCE.
Located on a sandy island in a wetland area near the Baltic Sea, this settlement provides valuable insights into the lives of early farmers in northern Germany.
Archaeological excavations have uncovered evidence of houses, tools, pottery fragments, and grinding stones.
“Grinding stones are like time capsules,” explained Dr. Jingping An, the study’s lead author. “Even small fragments of these stones can preserve tiny traces of ancient plants, including starch grains and phytoliths.”
A Diverse and Surprising Menu
The plant remains found on the grinding stones showed that these farmers ate much more than just wheat and barley. Their diet included fruits from wild grasses, knotweed, acorns, and starchy tubers. There were even traces of wild legume seeds. This diverse mix of ingredients highlights their ability to enrich their meals with both cultivated and wild plants.
“While charred wild plants have been found before through soil samples, this study confirms that these plants were actively processed for food,” said Prof. Wiebke Kirleis, who led the research.
The findings align with previous studies from another Funnel Beaker Culture site in Denmark, known as Frydenlund. At Frydenlund, only wild plants were found on grinding stones, suggesting that wild ingredients were a significant part of their diet.
Bread, Gruel, or Porridge?
The study also revealed how cereals were prepared at Oldenburg LA 77. Evidence from the grinding stones, pottery fragments, and food residues suggests that grains were ground into fine flour or crushed into coarse pieces to make flatbread. One of the pottery pieces, described as a “baking plate,” provided clear signs of cereal-based cooking.
Interestingly, this differs from Frydenlund, where cereals were likely cooked as gruel or porridge rather than baked into bread. These differences show that early farmers in northern Germany and Denmark had distinct preferences for preparing their meals.
“This research shows that the first farmers had complex and diverse cooking practices,” said Dr. An. “They were resourceful in using both cultivated crops and wild plants to create a varied diet.”
The findings give us a glimpse into how our ancestors not only survived but thrived with their knowledge of food preparation. It’s clear that even 5,000 years ago, people were experimenting with different recipes and ingredients to make the most of their environment.
