An international team of archaeologists and scientists has reconstructed the diets of prehistoric communities from north-central Poland, shedding new light on how people adapted to changing environments and shifting social landscapes over three millennia between the Neolithic and the Bronze Age.
The researchers analysed human remains from 60 individuals, dated between around 4100 and 1230 BC. This long timespan encompassed key periods of Central European prehistory, including the arrival of groups with steppe ancestry from the East and the first widespread use of millet in the region. Archaeological traces of these societies are often scarce: their lightly built houses decayed quickly, graves contained few objects, and poor soil conditions preserved little organic material. Traditional archaeology has therefore offered only a partial picture of how they lived.
To overcome these gaps, the team combined archaeological and anthropological study with cutting-edge scientific techniques to study human remains, including radiocarbon dating, ancient DNA analysis, and stable isotope measurements of carbon and nitrogen. This interdisciplinary approach allowed them to date the remains, and reconstruct diets, farming practices and even aspects of social organisation that would otherwise remain invisible.
One of the most striking findings concerns the Corded Ware communities, who arrived in north-central Poland in the late Neolithic around 2800 BC. Contrary to expectations that they would prefer open grasslands, isotopic evidence shows that the earliest Corded Ware people herded their animals in forests or wet river valleys – marginal zones away from the fertile soils long cultivated by local farmers. After several centuries, their diet shifted and began to resemble that of their farming neighbours, perhaps by borrowing herding practices already established among local communities.
The second major discovery relates to the introduction of millet. Across Eurasia, broomcorn millet was rapidly adopted, quickly becoming a dietary staple. In north-central Poland, however, the analysis of the isotopic make-up of bone collagen from human bones tell a different story. From around 1200 BC, some communities relied heavily on millet, while others consumed little or none. Remarkably, these groups also buried their dead in different ways: some reintroduced the older tradition of communal tombs used over generations, while others practised unusual paired burials in elongated pits, with the deceased placed foot-to-foot. These differences suggest that food choices were not only practical but also closely tied to identity and group boundaries.
The results also point to subtle social inequalities. Variations in the nitrogen isotope make-up of bone collagen were used to reflect the position of individuals in the food web. Some of them – particularly in the Early Bronze Age – had greater access to animal protein than others, hinting at emerging hierarchies that are otherwise invisible in the modest grave goods of the region.
The findings also show that peripheral regions did not merely imitate the cultural centres of Central Europe, but could develop according to their own alternative principles. Exploring these dynamics reveals the creativity of prehistoric communities and their capacity to adapt to changing environmental and social conditions.
