Fragments of the ancient dishes contained plant residues, which can be found in today's garlic mustard seeds. The peppery spice is part of the mustard family and isn't considered to have any nutritional value, mixed in with fat from animal remains and plants rich in starch.
The discovery suggests that the spice was added to the meal as flavouring rather than for nutritional purposes. It was previously thought that while our ancestors were mainly carnivores, prehistoric man only supplemented their diet with energy giving plants, which they began to cultivate and eat around 6000 BC.
When asked about the research they had undertaken, Dr Hayley Saul from the University of York stated "Our evidence suggests a much greater antiquity to the spicing of foods in this region than is evident from the macrofossil record, and challenges the view that plants were exploited by hunter-gatherers and early agriculturalists solely for energy requirements, rather than taste."
We wonder what a prehistoric curry would have tasted like!
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