tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8743102750721348863.post2465651793963063052..comments2024-03-28T02:45:00.618-07:00Comments on Old European culture: Acorns in archaeologyoldeuropeanculturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880222013739472782noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8743102750721348863.post-17589831687155914252024-02-05T02:41:46.014-08:002024-02-05T02:41:46.014-08:00Hi, just rereading your amazing posts about acorns...Hi, just rereading your amazing posts about acorns as food and I wondered whether you have found any more information about their pre/historic consumption in Britain or Ireland? The lack of data seems mysterious...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8743102750721348863.post-60975865170318074872020-12-20T02:33:41.680-08:002020-12-20T02:33:41.680-08:00This is a good point and would say yes acorns were...This is a good point and would say yes acorns were depended on before agriculture and remains important for many cultures today. The main variable at play regarding the antiquity of acorn use during the Pleistocene is how long has fire been around? the other two variables is of course how long has toolkits to process acorns been around and probably the most requisite variable is how long has knowledge of tannin leaching been around? This same practice of leaching tannins and other poisons (early humans probably ate an array of nuts and roots, some that require leaching and cooking).<br /><br />Fire is necessary to cook acorns, so Id say acorns have been eaten as long as hominin used fire. Not to mention, many oaks are adapted to fire and there is widespread scientific support that anthropogenic fires have shaped ecosystems and the distribution of woodlands and grassland savannahs. great article!QuackyQuercusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8743102750721348863.post-75264114124791484162020-04-09T02:58:36.067-07:002020-04-09T02:58:36.067-07:00I am but a humble blogger :) And yes it is extraor...I am but a humble blogger :) And yes it is extraordinary :) Maybe this will help https://www.pnas.org/content/113/51/14674oldeuropeanculturehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07880222013739472782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8743102750721348863.post-24022472402111968672020-04-08T16:23:30.318-07:002020-04-08T16:23:30.318-07:00I would like clarification on these dates because ...I would like clarification on these dates because they seem so far out from the other dates:<br /><br />"Gesher Benot Yaaqov is located on the shores of the paleo lake Hula in the northern Jordan Valley in the Dead Sea Rift. The site was used by humans for about 100,000 years until 790,000 BC. Fourteen archaeological horizons indicate that Acheulian humans repeatedly occupied the lake margins, where they skillfully produced stone tools, systematically butchered and exploited animals, gathered plant food, and controlled fire. The nut remains found in Gesher Benot Ya’aqov site and dated to about 750 000 BC, are mostly those of Atlantic pistachio, acorns of Mt. Tabor Oak, and wild almonds. They are thought to have been consumed by humans."<br /><br />and further down you wrote:<br /><br />"The cave was inhabited between 60,000 - 48,000 BC. Acorns, pistachios and legumes were found in Middle Paleolithic layers [2] dated to about 60 000 BC - 40 000 BC. Kebara cave was at that time occupied by Neanderthals which shows that they too used acorns as food."<br /><br />The dates above of 790,000 BC and 750,000 BC are so different to the 60,000 and 40,000 BC dates given in the paragraph below that, they are an order of magnitude higher and are they even during the time that our ancestors were considered human? That is nearly a million years ago. I wondered if it was a typo, adding another zero in it. Are you sure it wasn't meant to read "79,000BC"? If humans have been eating acorns for nearly a million years before agriculture, that really is extraordinarySupernovahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10194931922592685514noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8743102750721348863.post-86450185110740617942018-08-07T08:55:02.201-07:002018-08-07T08:55:02.201-07:00Acorns are 56% of their calories as fat, 6% as pro...Acorns are 56% of their calories as fat, 6% as protein, and 42% as carbs and there is a bit of starch in those carbs. And they are exceptionally high in minerals, low in saturated fats, higher in monounsaturated and polyunsaturated is in the middle between mono, highest fat %, poly 2nd highest % and saturated the lowest % of fats. Very healthy even if it has been here for absolute eons.They also have a good amino acid profile, much higher than what vegans think is high plant protein. Ohnecluehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08308055172691797005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8743102750721348863.post-49450836139340923912017-06-06T19:04:18.043-07:002017-06-06T19:04:18.043-07:00I tried cooking and eating acorns once. Not a succ...I tried cooking and eating acorns once. Not a success. Very bitter, even after repeated boiling and rinsing.Tom Bridgelandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13098048586042365606noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8743102750721348863.post-87909766812967028492017-04-13T03:30:30.772-07:002017-04-13T03:30:30.772-07:00Muchas gracias por esta información. Es muy import...Muchas gracias por esta información. Es muy importante. oldeuropeanculturehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07880222013739472782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8743102750721348863.post-17371713165244461952017-04-13T01:52:15.862-07:002017-04-13T01:52:15.862-07:00Desde hace muchos años estoy investigando la cultu...Desde hace muchos años estoy investigando la cultura del Bronce Antiguo en la Isla de Mallorca (España), especialmente caracterizada por su base alimenticia mediante la harina de Bellota. Hacia el Bronce Medio se produce<br />una gran eclosión demográfica, pues a lo largo de las laderas montañosas de la isla se conservan centenares de poblados formados por viviendas alargadas (Longhauses) de planta absidal y construcciones ciclópeas, entre las peñas de los parajes de rocas calcáreos donde casi no hay tierra de cultivo, pero sí muy antiguos bosques de encinas.<br />Esta cultura del Bronce medio tenía por costumbre meter los muertos en cuevas funerarias y las ofrendas de los recipientes que utilizaban indican<br />importante recurso a la alimentación de guisos con carne, verduras, granos,<br />pescado, etc., además de usar cerveza (a partir de una graminia autóctona) y otras bebidas alcohólicas. Pero la base de la alimentación era sin duda el pan de bellota. El propio nombre de la harina y todo lo relacionado con el pan estaba en la lengua antigua de la Iberia prerromana referida a la harina de bellota y no al trigo y que en realidad acabaría sustituyendo al pan primitivo, al sobrevenir los cultivos cerealísticos extensivos impuestos por la economía romana. El hacha de Roma que arrasó los grandes<br />bosques de la llanura y tierras más fértiles de bajura.<br />Saludos, J. A. Encinas S.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09626222413908842010noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8743102750721348863.post-82940644022036734312016-05-18T06:33:32.889-07:002016-05-18T06:33:32.889-07:00Hi Gina. Thank for this kind comment. I am plannin...Hi Gina. Thank for this kind comment. I am planning few more articles about the consumption of acorns. I am still to cover the historical and ethnographic records about the human consumption of acorns and the discussion about the reason for switch from acorns to grain. I think this is quite an interesting question with yet no answer...oldeuropeanculturehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07880222013739472782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8743102750721348863.post-90265066038357652262016-05-18T02:19:36.178-07:002016-05-18T02:19:36.178-07:00I greatly appreciate this article and am looking f...I greatly appreciate this article and am looking forward to any related articles about acorn eating and/or the symbiotic relationship and spiritual beliefs related to this. It is a fascination of mine too in many many ways.---1. the current renewed interests in food forests as a way to survive and work with the environment. 2. the belief systems surrounding oaks and trees- including the tree alphabet. 3. the long term symbiotic relationship with trees and humans. 4 the consciousness of trees to work with humans for our survival. 5. What does eating acorns do to the body and mind? 6. The enormous crops of acorns falling now-- or last Fall around the world... and now the subsequent growth of potential new seedlings that I see all over the place. 6. The later beliefs about Mother Mary and the oak and lindens. 7. Tree iconography, such as the Greenman (not to mention his relationship to Christ). Acorn iconography in churches..... and on and on. If there is any way I can be notified of subsequent or previous research on this, I would be extremely gratefulAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16383779097859313134noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8743102750721348863.post-19753051699188500812016-01-13T09:27:46.685-08:002016-01-13T09:27:46.685-08:00Wondering if acorns were found amongst the charred...Wondering if acorns were found amongst the charred remains at this Bronze Age site in Britain:<br />http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-35280290<br /><br />I realize it was under water, but wouldn't charred remains remain viable?<br /><br />Thanks for all your research on the subject of acorns.Ain O'Slatarahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07899629515177774899noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8743102750721348863.post-38452338206079425872015-09-18T12:05:57.244-07:002015-09-18T12:05:57.244-07:00In Jean Craighead George's wilderness survival...In Jean Craighead George's wilderness survival novel "My Side of the Mountain", protagonist Sam Gribley grinds acorns into a flour. I always wanted to try that....Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15934714039338767254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8743102750721348863.post-12083925045491566132014-11-26T02:54:30.514-08:002014-11-26T02:54:30.514-08:00Another great article about something I've nev...Another great article about something I've never previously thought about! Also loved the comprehensive photos! Thank you! Pleased you are going to follow up with one on why and how they are eaten, as it's made me want to try them!Justbodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12322013368792583388noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8743102750721348863.post-57238555218726171652014-11-14T09:24:53.487-08:002014-11-14T09:24:53.487-08:00Thanks for putting all of this together here - a g...Thanks for putting all of this together here - a great resource! Especially nice to see the photographs of grinding implements and storage vessels. Really brings the cultures to life when you can see what they were using and imagine the accompanying movements and thinking.<br /><br />Here's some evidence of acorn consumption in the British Isles for you:<br /><br />http://ondisturbedground.wordpress.com/2011/11/17/acorns-good-times-bread/<br /><br />;) IIan Mhttp://ondisturbedground.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8743102750721348863.post-42622717597502259332014-11-08T12:50:52.155-08:002014-11-08T12:50:52.155-08:00Thank you for your kind comment. Acorns are a grea...Thank you for your kind comment. Acorns are a great source of carbohidrates, proteins, minerals and vitamines. I will write about how and why acorns were and are eaten in one of my future posts.oldeuropeanculturehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07880222013739472782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8743102750721348863.post-87716151791701796512014-11-07T02:17:30.173-08:002014-11-07T02:17:30.173-08:00Very interesting article. I couldn't find in m...Very interesting article. I couldn't find in my quick skim thru any mention of what nutritional value acorns might have added to diet. Can you direct me to the relevant section if it is there?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com