During the Mesolithic in Europe, there is widespread evidence for an increase in exploitation of aquatic resources. In contrast, the subsequent Neolithic is characterised by the spread of farming, land ownership, and full sedentism, which lead to the perception of marine resources subsequently representing marginal or famine food or being abandoned altogether even at the furthermost coastal limits of Europe. Here, we examine biomarkers extracted from human dental calculus, using sequential thermal desorption- and pyrolysis-GCMS, to report direct evidence for widespread consumption of seaweed and submerged aquatic and freshwater plants across Europe. Notably, evidence of consumption of these resources extends through the Neolithic transition to farming and into the Early Middle Ages, suggesting that these resources, now rarely eaten in Europe, only became marginal much more recently. Understanding ancient foodstuffs is crucial to reconstructing the past, while a better knowledge of local, forgotten resources is likewise important today.

El present volum presenta diferents estudis que aprofundeixen en les novetats aportades per l’arqueologia en el coneixement d’aquest període i que es varen presentar en el marc del VI Seminari Internacional d’Arqueologia Medieval i Moderna, celebrat a Roses el 19 d’octubre de l’any 2023. Els estudis seleccionats han estat agrupats en quatre grans blocs temàtics que aglutinen algunes de les grans problemàtiques que es plantegen a l’arqueologia a l’hora d’analitzar aquesta època: el món rural, el territori, les ciutats i els vilatges i, finalment, el món religiós.