YORK, England, Oct. 24 (UPI) -- British researchers say their study of ancient pottery suggests human transition from fishing, hunting and gathering to farming was a long, gradual process.
Archaeologists at the University of York and the University of Bradford said the evidence is in the form of residue of marine, freshwater and terrestrial organisms in cooking pots dating back to about 4,000 B.C., a University of York release said Monday.
About the time domestication of animals and farming began in the Western Baltic regions of Northern Europe, they said, evidence from the pots shows fish and other aquatic resources were still being exploited.
Even at inland sites, 28 percent of pots contained residues from aquatic organisms assumed to be freshwater fish, they said.
"This research provides clear evidence people across the Western Baltic continued to exploit marine and freshwater resources despite the arrival of domesticated animals and plants," York archaeologist Oliver Craig said,
"Although farming was introduced rapidly across this region, it may not have caused such a dramatic shift from hunter-gatherer life as we previously thought."
