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I think the trick to reconnecting beyond folklore to how they lived is to dig widely. Now this is a tricky beast as the key to all of it is to look at texts prior to the beginning of the nations more noticeable subversion in it's culture (best bet being pre 20th century texts for the cleanest, unsullied view). A good book that covers a vast amount of European cultures is Hammerton's Manners & Customs of Mankind, a book I've been slowly trying to make a PDF of (however the binding is giving out each session so I'm a bit wary unless I can find a second set). Now it does look at *all* cultures worldwide however the writer in question treats them as a sane man would; criticise where appropriate such as the barbarity of the African tribes, or show intrigue at the Asiatic people's honour codes. This book is a fantastic record of our traditions and the reasoning behind them such as the purpose of the "May Queen" and such local events to even a good section on the national dances of European nations and other such things that we had as part of our communities and the connections within them at large. It's not *too* hard finding a copy nowadays but digital ones do not exist apparently.
https://ww w.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?an=hammerton&tn=manners%20customs%20mankind&cm_sp=mbc-_-ats-_-all
Now if you do go hunting this book, a word of warning. There are two main releases, one is a four volume, one is a three volume. The three volume is the one you want, it has larger page size and clearer images. The three volume has a "bad optics" as certain groups may consider it though, if it's pre 1930's it likely has a swastika on the spine as it concerns life and that is quite literally the symbol of it. There are some versions of the three volume without it but Hammerton's releases had a tendency to be erratic in their styling and how condensed down the work was meaning you could buy a three volume set to find out it's actually a four set with a book missing. It's a shame as they put out some good work. If looking for it, check it's dimensions, you want a full size copy, not the smaller editions.
Now when it comes to a general search for good books concerning our peoples lives, trick I use is to search for cultural history with antique book sellers and such. Look for online used book stores that have the ability to search for those criteria, antique books and cultural history (a search for anthropology texts can also yield some luck as well). Of course, you'll get the usual drivel of "Oh look, there's this delightful tribe of negroes who partake in cannibalism, thats lovely" by Moishe Levi or some such but careful hunting will reveal some excellent texts. For instance, you mention diets and such, well you may be interested in texts recording cooking to gain an insight into our ancestors diets. I'll offer an example in fact, Anglo-saxon Food & Drink (hold back the giggles, it's far more hearty than the semite have most believe) which offers decent insight on food from fifth to eleventh century. It is a more modern release yes but for the most part it functions as what it is; an insight into how we ate prior to high sugar consumption.