Some ways of understanding what was eaten are from records. Written records specify some of the foods that were eaten. Also art work displays what might have been food eaten. Even actual remains could be very informative to understand what they were eating. The analysis of bones can indicate the balance of marine and earthly foods in their diet. This also shows differences in the nutrition between the poor and rich members of the society. This shows what members were eating healthier and which were not. .
Explanation of food remains requires to a certain extent complicated procedures. Today we can initially reconstruct the set of choices available in the nearby environments. The unarguable proof that a particular plant or animal species was actually consumed is the presence of its traces in stomach contents or in fossilized feces.
The archaeologists if they want to understand what was eaten, they need to understand the archaeological context of a plant sample. They need to understand the uses of the plants by humans. They need to know what effects the plants have on the human remains. The remains of the plant make known the significance of the spot where founded. This in return gives the nature of the context. .
With plant residue left on artifacts we can learn more about their function. The analysis of this can determine whether the tool was used to cut wood, meat, grass, and so on. The microwear analysis can do all of this. The phytoliths can amazingly identify even types of grass was cut by the tool. Archaeologists can also do a new method that is chemical analysis. There are chemical reagents that can tell whether plant residues are present on tools. Also fats preserved in vessels are being helpful. This investigation is making progress. Plant residues that were previously unidentifiable can now be characterized due to the new technology. .
Animal bones have also been studied along with the study of plant remains.