LUND, SWEDEN—Science Nordic reports that scientists from Lund University analyzed the isotope levels in 82 sets of Stone Age skeletal remains found in Sweden and Denmark, and fish and animal bones uncovered at four Stone Age sites in Sweden spanning a period of about 3,000 years. The study suggests that people in the region heavily relied on fish, which made up just over half of their protein intake, and that they ate locally sourced foods. Those who lived by lakes and rivers ate carp, perch, and pike regularly, while those who lived by the sea ate mostly cod, but also herring, pollock, haddock, and dogfish. Adam Boethius of Lund University said the prevalence of fish in the Stone Age diet could indicate that people living in Scandinavia were not as mobile as previously believed. Seal meat made up 10 percent of the diet, and land animals, such as wild boar and red deer made up about 37 percent, while plants, mushrooms, berries, and nuts accounted for only about three percent of the foods eaten by Stone Age Scandinavians at one settlement. The prevalence of fish in the diet may have been underestimated in the past because the delicate bones are difficult to detect at archaeological sites. For more on archaeology in Scandinavia, go to “Vikings, Worms, and Emphysema.”
