What influenced prehistoric Europeans' food choices?

Environment, technology, cultural traditions, trade, and what they grew.

How did Mesolithic Europeans procure food?

Gathering shellfish, hunting terrestrial animals, and managing hazelnut orchards.

Focused on crops like Emma and einkorn wheat, peas, flax, and Poppy, while relying more on cattle and pigs.

Mesolithic Europeans were not as nomadic as previously thought, often residing on the coast and gathering shellfish in large quantities, showcasing a more settled lifestyle than assumed.
The transition from the Mesolithic to Neolithic eras in Europe brought significant changes in food choices and farming practices, with dairy becoming a crucial part of the diet despite lactose intolerance, and the introduction of new crops and animals leading to advancements in food production and healthier, larger populations during the Bronze Age.

What influenced prehistoric Europeans' food choices?
Environment, technology, cultural traditions, trade, and what they grew.
How did Mesolithic Europeans procure food?
Gathering shellfish, hunting terrestrial animals, and managing hazelnut orchards.
What new crops were cultivated during the Bronze Age in Europe?
Rye, oats, and millet.
How did Neolithic farmers adapt their farming methods in Central Europe?
Focused on crops like Emma and einkorn wheat, peas, flax, and Poppy, while relying more on cattle and pigs.
What were the key food sources for Neolithic farmers despite lactose intolerance?
Dairy products.

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Europe's climate warmed after the last glacial period, leading to thriving hunter-gatherer societies in the Mesolithic era.
Neolithic farmers spread across Europe in two waves, introducing new ways of life, languages, beliefs, and social structures.
Step herders from the Pontic steppe spread across Europe around 3000 BC, marking the beginning of the European Bronze Age.
Prehistoric Europeans' food choices were influenced by their environment, what they grew, raised, and traded, as well as their technology and cultural traditions.
Mesolithic Europeans, not as nomadic as believed, often lived on the coast, gathering shellfish in large quantities.
Shell middens across Europe reveal the consumption of shellfish, fish species, seals, terrestrial animals, and plant foods by Mesolithic people.
Hazelnuts were a significant food source for Mesolithic Europeans, with evidence of intensive gathering and processing at various sites.
Mesolithic people used proto-farming methods to manage wild hazelnut orchards and potentially introduced land snails to new environments.
Humans intentionally introduced various animal species to islands post-glacial period, including wild boar, brown bears, and wolves.
Neolithic farmers in Europe focused on domesticated cereals, pulses, and animals, with dairy products becoming a vital part of their diet despite lactose intolerance.

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Neolithic farmers in Central Europe adapted their farming methods by focusing on crops like Emma and einkorn wheat, peas, flax, and Poppy, while relying more on cattle and pigs than sheep and goats.
Dairy was a crucial daily food source for Neolithic Farmers, with slaughtering reserved for communal feasting activities, as seen in sites like southern Britain where cattle were slaughtered and consumed in large feasts.
Eastern European hunter-gatherer groups adopted cattle and sheep from Neolithic farmers around 4700 BC, becoming dedicated pastoralists specializing in cattle and sheep, while also domesticating wild horses for milk and meat.
The Bronze Age saw a broadening of food production in Europe, with new crops like Rya, oats, and millet being cultivated, along with advancements in food technology, long-distance trade for items like salt, leading to healthier and larger populations.