Comments by "Big Blue" (@bigblue6917) on "The Delicious Diets of Prehistoric Europe (Mesolithic, Neolithic, Bronze Age)" video.

Yes they were changing the environment. Star Carr is interesting because it looks like at one point in the past the reeds were being burnt back in mid summer and this was possibly done by the people living there. There are several reasons why this was done. The reeds would have time to grow back again and because the primary shoot had gone the secondary shoots, five in total, would start growing to replace the primary shoot. Because there was now five shoots growing instead of the original one it meant the reeds were much denser making a very good thatch for any shelter the people would use over winter. The new shoots now had an increased sugar content the smell of which would attract game to the lake. You get the same effect with grass which when new mown grass smells sweet. The native populations of Australia and America would also burn back grass to attract animals. This is why there are so few trees on the American prairies. The reeds are edible by humans as well so would have been a good source of sugar. Roasting Hazelnuts would preserve them and they would last for six months. While studying archaeology I noticed that the hazelnut tree was the most widespread of all trees which had me think that this could have been done deliberately by the people living there. People would naturally become lactose intolerant at the age of two when the stopped being feed by their mothers. But the keeping of cows changed that as they would drink the milk and became more tolerant of the lactose. But this did not happen in all the places where they kept cows. This is why the people of southern Italy will only drink one milky coffee a day while those of northern Italy can drink more. The first recipe for bread was probably similar to what we now know today as Poolish. This is a simple recipe of flour and water which would be mixed together and baked on one of the hot stones which was next to the fire. You have to wonder how long it was before someone crushed a few hazelnuts and added them to the bread, or maybe a few berries. Good for carrying during the day when you are busy and needed something to eat. I recently read an article about hunter gatherers which pointed out that they only needed to work 15 hours a week to get all that they needed. You can see why ancient peoples regretted becoming farmers.
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