Prehistoric Europeans like to eat spicy

Civilization of prehistoric Nordic people loves spicy food. They use garlic, mustard as a spice in dishes thousands of years ago.

The research group of "ancient cooking pots" found traces of many spices on ceramic pieces. They were excavated at the archaeological site in Denmark and Germany during the Neolithic period, about 6,200 to 5,900 years ago, Live Science reported.

A piece of pottery from an ancient pot of rice.(Photo: University of York / BioArCH)

About science think of two hypotheses about ancient culinary activity. The first hypothesis prevails that people at that time ate only to meet the calories of the day, and they did not know how to prepare food. The second hypothesis suggests that food has an impact on society, and people at that time had access to complex cooking techniques.

Hayley Saul, an archaeologist at the University of York, said: "Spicy evidence suggests that energy supply is not the only purpose of food. Prehistoric people are more creative in food processing, increasing the value of everyday food ".

The researchers analyzed residues in ancient cooking pots and found many similar modern spices like garlic, mustard with strong spicy flavor. The team also found residues of fish, animal fat and the rest of the starch. This shows that garlic, mustard is used to marinate these foods.

"The combination of food and spice is an ancient culinary art that has a longer tradition than what we thought. It appeared in the Nordic civilization before the spice trade began. " Hayley Saul said. Detailed results of the study are published in PLoS ONE magazine.