Hunter-gatherers living in glacial conditions produced pots
for cooking fish, according to the findings of a pioneering new study led by
the University of York which reports the earliest direct evidence for the use
of ceramic vessels.
Scientists from the UK, the Netherlands, Sweden and Japan
carried out chemical analysis of food residues in pottery up to 15,000 years
old from the late glacial period, the oldest pottery so far investigated. It is
the first study to directly address the often posed question “why humans made
pots?” The research is published in
Nature.