When Iceland was settled by immigrants from Scandinavia and Viking colonies in the British Isles, they brought their farming methods and food traditions of the Norse world. Research indicates that the climate of Iceland was much milder during the Middle Ages than it is now, and sources tell of cultivation of barley and oats. Most of this would have been consumed as porridge or gruel or used for making beer. Cattle was the dominant farm animal, but farms also raised poultry, pigs, goats, horses and sheep. The poultry, horse, sheep and goat stocks first brought to Iceland have since developed in isolation, unaffected by modern selective breeding. Therefore, they are sometimes called the "settlement breed" or "viking breed".