Late Ice Age Flora
Because animal bones are well preserved for thousands of years and plant remains are not, archaeologists tend to underestimate the potential contribution of plant and other foods to the Ice Age diet. Pollen grains recovered from late Ice Age sites in Europe include those of a number of edible species of tubers, nuts, and berries that were growing in the vicinity. These include such items as blueberries, raspberries, acorns, and hazelnuts. In recent excavations at the 14,000-year-old site of El Juyo, in northern Spain, L. Freeman and J.G. Echegaray have recovered a number of seeds through use of a modern technique known as flotation. Plant species include sticktights, blackberry, raspberry, grasses and dock.
