Early Humans and the Paleolithic Diet
The period from the first tool-making hominins (2.5 million years ago) to the end of the last Ice Age (12,000 years ago) is known as the Paleolithic Era. The primary dietary strategy during this time was hunting and gathering.
Fire: The First Culinary Revolution
Control of fire by Homo erectus (possibly as early as 1.5 million years ago) was perhaps the single greatest culinary and social innovation.
- Nutritional Advantage: Cooking food (meat and starchy tubers) makes it easier to chew and digest. Crucially, cooking denatures proteins and unlocks nutrients, making more calories available for absorption. This higher-quality diet provided the massive energy necessary to fuel the growth of the human brain.
- Social Structure: Fire provided warmth, protection from predators, and a focal point for social activity, lengthening the day and allowing for more time dedicated to tool-making and social bonding.
The Hunter-Gatherer Diet
Early hominins were highly opportunistic, but as brain size increased, the importance of nutrient-dense food grew.
- Hunting: While early hominins likely scavenged, skilled, cooperative hunting became a hallmark of later species, particularly Homo sapiens. Hunting provided essential protein and fat.
- Gathering: Gathering provided the bulk of the calories, offering diverse plant foods (roots, berries, nuts, seeds), which were essential for dietary stability, especially in times when hunting was unsuccessful.
- Dietary Flexibility: This deep reliance on both hunting and gathering instilled a profound dietary flexibility that allowed humans to successfully colonize nearly every environment on Earth.
Out of Africa and the Ice Age Migrations
From 100, 000 years ago, modern humans, Homo sapiens, began migrating out of Africa in major waves, spreading across Asia, Europe, and eventually the Americas and Australia.
Migration to Britain and Doggerland
- Glacial Cycles: The migration into Britain was episodic, tied directly to the great Ice Ages (Pleistocene). During colder periods, massive ice sheets covered much of northern Britain, and sea levels dropped dramatically as water was locked up in ice.
The Neolithic Revolution (The Birth of Farming)
The end of the last Ice Age brought a warmer, more stable climate, leading to the Neolithic Revolution—the shift from foraging to food production (farming).
The Fertile Crescent and Global Spread
- Domestication: This revolution began in the Fertile Crescent (the Middle East) around 12,000 years ago, where wild grasses like wheat and barley were first domesticated. The key was selecting for traits like non-shattering seed heads and increased seed size.
- Dietary Change: The diet shifted to be heavily reliant on cereals (carbohydrates) and domesticated animals (sheep, goats, cattle, pigs).
- Pros and Cons: Farming allowed for sedentary living and supported larger populations. However, the diet became less diverse, often leading to nutritional deficiencies, while living in close proximity to animals and dense populations led to the rapid spread of infectious diseases.
Farming Arrives in Britain
- Around 4,500 BCE (6,500 years ago): Farming technologies spread across Europe and finally reached Britain, replacing the existing Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age) hunter-gatherer lifestyle.
- Early British Farmers: These Neolithic farmers introduced domesticated animals and crops, leading to deforestation as land was cleared for fields. Diet shifted to include domesticated cattle, pigs, and sheep, alongside wheat and barley. They were also responsible for building massive communal monuments like Stonehenge.
Fermentation: A Pre-Agricultural Discovery
While often associated with farming, the art of fermentation likely predates the Neolithic period.
- Natural Fermentation: Accidental fermentation of naturally sweet liquids (like overripe fruit or honey mixed with water) was likely discovered by hunter-gatherers.
- Purposeful Production: With farming, the intentional fermentation of grains became widespread. Beer and simple wines were easier to store, and the fermentation process made them safer to drink (as boiling water was used and alcohol inhibits bacteria). Beer became a significant source of nutrition and calories in early farming societies.
The Metal Ages
The Neolithic period was followed by the Bronze Age and the Iron Age, marked by the adoption of metallurgy.
Bronze Age (2,500 to 800 BCE)
- Food Production: Farming continued to intensify. The diet remained cereal- and livestock-based.
- The Beaker Culture: The arrival of the Beaker people in Britain around 2,500 BCE saw a shift in burial practices, the introduction of copper/bronze working, and possibly the introduction of new farming and brewing techniques.
Iron Age (800 BCE to 43 CE)
Celtic Fields: Iron tools enabled more efficient forest clearance and deeper ploughing. The landscape became dominated by small, square fields, often called “Celtic fields.”
The diet remained centered on cereal crops and livestock, but farming became more efficient:
The main staples were barley and wheat (especially emmer and spelt). These were often consumed as porridge or gruel (pottage) and sometimes as flatbreads. Iron tools allowed for more efficient ploughing and harvesting, which increased yields. Peas, beans, and lentils were crucial for providing protein and for restoring nitrogen to the soil via crop rotation. The introduction of the heavy plough (though possibly later in the period) could turn over heavy clay soils, enabling larger-scale production in previously unmanageable areas.
The Iron Age diet was generally rich in animal products, especially compared to later Medieval diets: Cattle, sheep, and pigs were the primary livestock. Cattle provided meat and hides, but their most important contribution was dairy (milk, butter, and cheese) and their use as draught animals (for pulling ploughs). While organized farming provided the bulk of the food, hunting of wild boar, deer, and fowl continued to supplement the diet, often as a source of prestige. Consumption varied significantly by region, but coastal and riverside settlements relied heavily on fish, shellfish, and seals.
The Iron Age saw developments in food storage that stabilized the food supply and allowed for surplus, which was crucial for supporting larger populations and fortified sites. Grains were stored in underground, bell-shaped pits called souterrains or in granaries built on posts (four-post structures). These pits helped keep the grain cool and dry, or, in some cases, preserved by fermentation.
The rise of large, defended settlements, such as hill forts, suggests that food resources and livestock were increasingly centralized and needed protection from competing tribes. The ability to store large grain reserves was essential for these communities.
Fermented beverages remained central to the diet: main drink was a thick, unfiltered ale brewed from barley or wheat. This provided hydration, calories, and was often safer to drink than local water. A fermented drink made from honey, mead was likely reserved for special occasions or the tribal elite.
Roman Rule and Germanic Tribes
Roman conquest introduced new crops and infrastructure that stabilized and diversified the food supply.
Roman Britain (43 CE to 410 CE)
The Roman occupation of Britain (43 CE to 410 CE) introduced major, lasting changes to the food system, particularly in the range of non-meat crops and culinary techniques, transforming the simple Iron Age diet.
The Romans significantly diversified the range of plant foods available, especially vegetables, fruits, and herbs previously unknown or uncommon in Britain. These included cabbage, carrots, parsnips, turnips, cherries, plums, grapes, walnuts and chestnuts.
New herbs included mint, thyme, parsley, coriander, and dill. Essential Roman condiments like liquamen (fermented fish sauce, similar to modern Southeast Asian fish sauce) and garum were imported and used widely by the Romanized population to flavor almost all dishes. Olive oil, imported from the Mediterranean, became a staple fat for cooking and seasoning, replacing animal fats in many Roman-style dishes. Wine became the standard beverage for the elite and was produced in small quantities in Roman villas in the south of England.Condiments included
They also brought new farming tools (like the heavy plough) and industrial-scale grain production. They introduced better-yielding varieties of wheat, such as spelt and a form of bread wheat, enabling the production of lighter, finer bread favored by the Romans and the elite. The Romans introduced advanced water mills and rotary querns for grinding grain, leading to more efficient and higher-quality flour. Particularly in military forts and towns, this resulted in food preparation moving from small domestic units to industrial operations,
Roman villas and towns featured purpose-built kitchens with sophisticated ovens and hearths, allowing for a wider range of baking and roasting methods beyond the simple open fires of Iron Age roundhouses.
These new foods and techniques created a massive gap in diet. The Romanized urban elite and military consumed a varied, Mediterranean-style diet, while the majority of the rural native population continued to rely on traditional Iron Age staples (porridge, gruel, coarse bread, and local meat/dairy), though they gradually adopted some of the new crops like cabbage and turnips.
Anglo-Saxon England
With the end of Roman rule, many of the Roman imports and specialized crops either vanished or were relegated to small monastic gardens. Wine and olive oil disappeared. Ale and mead saw a resurgence. Traditional Northern European staples were re-emphasized and there was a decisinve shift away from the specialized, urban, and diverse Roman diet.
The introduction and focus on Barley and Rye became paramount, often replacing Roman bread wheat in the common diet. Barley was the primary grain for brewing, while rye was hardy and used for darker, coarser bread. Oats were also vital for animal feed and human consumption (porridge).
The use of the heavy, wheeled plough became more widespread. While the Romans used simple ploughs, the Anglo-Saxon plough was better suited for the deep, heavy soils of Britain, leading to the development of the distinctive open-field system of agriculture.
Once again, milk, butter, and especially cheese were central to the diet, providing fat and protein that could be stored through the winter. Cows were highly valued for dairy and labour more than for meat. but pigs were particularly important as they could be fed on woodland forage (acorns and mast) and their meat (pork and bacon) was easily preserved by salting and smoking. Honey was the primary sweetener, replacing imported sugar.
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