Uncovering Early Farming Practices in Frydenlund: Porridge Over Bread

 

New research on grinding stones recovered from Frydenlund, a Neolithic settlement on the southern end of Funen Island in Denmark, is revealing how early farmers of the Funnel Beaker Culture prepared their food. Unlike previously assumed, the grinding stones were not used for making bread, but for preparing porridge or gruel from starchy plants.

Researchers analyzed 14 grinding stones and over 5,000 charred grains of barley, emmer wheat, and durum wheat found at the site. Under a microscope, they discovered that the 5,500-year-old residues on the stones didn’t match the expected cereal grains, but instead consisted of wild plant remains. “We have not identified the plants the starch grains originate from,” explained Welmoed Out, an archaeobotanist at the Moesgaard Museum.

The study further revealed marks on the grinding stones that suggested they were pounded and crushed with pestles, tools also discovered at the site. These pestles, resembling rounded, thick stone sausages, were likely used in food preparation, though they haven’t been analyzed for phytoliths or starch grains yet, according to Niels H. Andersen from the Moesgaard Museum.

Beyond grains, the early farmers at Frydenlund likely supplemented their diets with berries, nuts, roots, and meat, rounding out their meals with a mix of wild plants and domesticated cereals.

This new insight challenges previous ideas about early Neolithic diets, suggesting that rather than focusing solely on bread-making, the first farmers may have preferred simpler, more varied food preparation methods. What do you think this discovery tells us about the complexity of early farming communities and their relationship with their environment?