Archaeological culinary corner

In 2021 Slovenia has been declared as a European region of gastronomy.

Let’s take a look at what we can use in today’s diet from the ancestors experiences.

Trying to present the diet of our ancient ancestors is an extremely difficult task. We do not have written sources for prehistoric periods. The only records of people, their way of life, food, architecture, etc. are remnants in the earth’s layers, in caves and waters.

How has the diet changed through the development of humanity? What have people eaten in the past? In the archaeological layers we find charred remains of fruits, vegetables and other plants, as well as animal bones. We determine the age of the remains with methods based on natural science, and with pollen-archaeobotanical and arehozoological analyses we determine the types of plants and animals people ate.

How was food prepared in prehistoric times, what spices they added to certain dishes, what utensils were used for cooking, which “recipes” they used? With material evidence we can learn about the gadgets and methods they used, and the taste of the food we try to reconstruct through experiments. Since many ingredients can no longer be obtained, the recipes are adapted for today’s use and taste.

Let’s embark on a journey of learning about food and tasting dishes from the Paleolithic to the Middle Ages.

Follow us every Friday … we also prepare recipes for prehistoric and ancient dishes.

Bon Appetit