Prehistoric humans liked to spice up their lives

摘要

l Our taste for spice goes way back into prehistory, research has shown. Traces of the pungent herb garlic mustard (Alliariapetiolata) were recovered from the cooking pots of hunter gatherers living along the shores of the Baltic Sea around 6000 years ago, but spicy cuisine likely goes back much further, say some experts. Microfossils of the mustard-flavoured seeds were recovered from carbonised deposits, along with lipids. From these lipid deposits, the researchers surmise that the spice was added to flavour various foodstuffs. 'What we have here is evidence of spice in a culinary context,' says archaeologist Oliver Craig of the University of York, UK, 'and these are definitely cooking pots.'