Food traces on ancient pots reveal our ancestors were partial to a fish supper

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Food remnants on ancient pots reveal mankind's switch from hunter gatherers to farmers may have been more gradual than first thought

As farming took over from hunter-gathering in the Neolithic age, it was thought mankind abandoned fish in favour of meat.

But fishy food traces discovered on ancient pots suggest the switch may have been more gradual than first thought, according to a study.

Researchers from the University of York and the University of Bradford analysed 133 pots dating to around 4,000 BC.

They found that fish and shellfish continued to be eaten after farming took off, with pots from coastal regions showing remnants of marine life.

At inland sites 28 per cent of pots contained traces of what researchers believe is freshwater fish.

Farming spread quickly across northern Europe at that time.

Previous evidence suggested this changed diets considerably, but the results of the study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, appear to suggest otherwise.

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'The information from the pottery residues adds another line of evidence to the argument that Neolithic diets were not totally terrestrial or domesticated,' lead author, Oliver Craig, from the University of York, said.

Around a fifth of coastal pots containedother traces of sea life, including fats and oils not found in farm animals and plants.

Previous evidence suggested diets changed considerably as farming spread across northern Europe. But the new results show Neolithic diets were not as domesticated as they seemed

'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,' Dr Craig added.

'Although farming was introduced rapidly across this region, itmay not have caused such a dramatic shift from hunter-gatherer life as we previously thought.'

Dr Craig will now use the new evidence to look at why people invented pottery in the first place.

'Certainly it's nothing to do with farming as once thought,' Dr Craig said.