Scientists Discover the Surprising Food and Drink Habits of Bronze Age Societies

Key Points:

• Archaeologists analyzing 52 ceramic vessels from the Kura-Araxes culture in Azerbaijan (circa 2800-2600 BCE) uncovered evidence of a diverse diet including dairy, grape-based beverages, fruits, plant oils, and millet, challenging previous assumptions of a simplistic Bronze Age diet in the South Caucasus.
• Biomolecular and use-wear analyses revealed thermal processing and the use of conifer resins, indicating sophisticated cooking practices and food preservation methods accessible to the entire, non-hierarchical society.
• The presence of grape-based drinks in everyday pottery suggests that such beverages were widely consumed by all social members, contrasting with the elite-restricted wine culture of neighboring Mesopotamia.
• Dairy consumption was significant, with evidence showing milk was processed into secondary products like cheese, reflecting advanced food preservation and culinary techniques.
• The discovery of millet residues, previously undocumented so far west or early in the archaeological record, points to long-distance trade and cultural exchanges between the Kura-Araxes people and Central Asian regions during the Bronze Age.