Dear paleo pals,
This link was forwarded to me.  I found the article fascinating and thought
I would share it with you.  Since we have discussed what methods of food
preservation were available to people with minimal technology, it seemed to
me to be sufficiently on topic.  Viking-era Scandinavian culture is not
paleo, but I'll open my big mouth and offer my opinion that it may be
considered near-paleo in its reliance on meat, fish, and mead (fermented
honey wine, as everyone here probably knows) as dietary staples.  And peat
was certainly around in paleo times, as evidenced by paleolithic and earlier
remains found in peat bogs.

http://www.cnn.com/2001/TECH/science/07/19/viking.preservation.ap/index.html
Viking trick could save food industry millions - July 19, 2001

---begin quote---
OSLO, Norway (AP) -- Researchers are looking at an old Viking trick -- using
peat moss -- as a way to preserve foods and save millions of kroner
(dollars) a year in refrigeration and transportation costs. [. . .]
Scandinavian freshwater fishermen traditionally used peat bogs to preserve
their catches until they could pick them up on their way out of the
mountains. [. . .]

In one test, they buried salmon skins in peat moss or coated them with the
extract and did the same with control skins buried in wood cellulose for
nine to 28 days. After removal, fish stored in the peat or extract stayed
fresh for up to a month, while the non-treated fish stank after two days. [.
. .]
---end quote---

What do you all think?
Mary

Mary M. Llewellyn
Opinions expressed herein are my own, and are not to be taken as official
policy of either Logicon, Inc., or the United States Air Force.