Thirty thousand-year-old evidence of plant food processing

Neolithic grindstone for processing grain

European Paleolithic subsistence is assumed to have been largelybased on animal protein and fat, whereas evidence for plantconsumption is rare. We present evidence of starch grains fromvarious wild plants on the surfaces of grinding tools at the sitesof Bilancino II (Italy), Kostenki 16–Uglyanka (Russia), and Pavlov VI (Czech Republic).

The samples originate from a variety of geograph-ical and environmental contexts, ranging from northeastern Europeto the central Mediterranean, and dated to the Mid-Upper Paleo-lithic (Gravettian and Gorodtsovian).

The three sites suggest thatvegetal food processing, and possibly the production offlour, wasa common practice, widespread across Europe from at least~30,000y ago. It is likely that high energy content plant foods were avail-able and were used as components of the food economy of thesemobile hunter–gatherers.

Thirty thousand-year-old evidence of plant food processing

Food processing