No vegetarians at Stonehenge

The Stonehenge builders were fond of a BBQ, consuming pork and beef in large, organised feasts. But vegetarians were thin on the ground, and milk may have occupied a ceremonial place in society.

A team of archaeologists at the University of York has revealed insights into cuisine and eating habits at Durrington Walls — a Late Neolithic monument and settlement site thought to be the residence for the builders of nearby Stonehenge during the 25th century BC.

Detailed analysis of pottery and animal bones has uncovered evidence of organised feasts featuring barbecue-style roasting, and an unexpected pattern in how foods were distributed and shared across the site.

Chemically analysing food residues remaining on several hundred fragments of pottery, the York team found differences in the way pots were used. Pots deposited in residential areas were found to be used for cooking animal products including pork, beef and dairy, whereas pottery from the ceremonial spaces was used predominantly for dairy.

Such spatial patterning could mean that milk, yoghurts and cheeses were perceived as fairly exclusive foods only consumed by a select few, or that milk products were used in public ceremonies.

There was very little evidence of plant food preparation at any part of the site, with the main evidence pointing to mass animal consumption, particularly of pigs.

The main methods of cooking meat are thought to be boiling and roasting in pots probably around indoor hearths, and larger barbecue-style roasting outdoors.

Isotopic analysis indicates that cattle originated from many different locations, some far away from the site. This is significant as it would require orchestration of a large number of volunteers likely drawn from far and wide.

Dr Oliver Craig, Reader in Archaeological Science at the University of York and lead author on the paper, said: “Evidence of food sharing and activity zoning at Durrington Walls shows a greater degree of culinary organisation than was expected for this period of British prehistory. The inhabitants and many visitors to this site possessed a shared understanding of how foods should be prepared, consumed and disposed. This, together with evidence of feasting, suggests Durrington Walls was a well-organised working community.”

Results of the study were published in the journal Antiquity.